


.tn&i^ ^. 



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v^SILK^SSAYS 

_^l|_i-Yf^ ^ PUBLISHED BY THE 

I^IM oTAMERIGA 






Silk Essays 

Consisting of Several Essays and Abstracts 

Submitted in the Silk Association 0/ America 

Prize Essay Competition 

1914 




Published by piiz'atc subscriptions in the interest of the Silk Trade. 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 
:{o4 Fourth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 



Price Fifty Cents. ' 






Copyright by the 

Silk Association of America 

191 5 



,5.x?5'7^ 



aH 



^CLA416404 

m 16 1915 



PREFACE 

TH E Board of Managers of The Silk Association of 
America received from one of the members of the As- 
sociation an offer to contribute one thousand dollars 
($1,000.00) for the purpose of providing prizes and de- 
fraying the necessary expenses for a Silk Prize Essay Com- 
petition. The Board of Managers accepted the offer, and this 
Committee was designated and authorized to perfect the plans 
and conduct the Competition. In response to the announcement 
forty-live essays were submitted from which twelve were selected 
by the Committee to receive the award of the twelve prizes 
offered. The information contained in many of the articles 
appears to the Committee to be of such value to the silk in- 
dustry as to justify its publication and preservation in perma- 
nent form. It is hoped that these essays may stimulate a wider 
and deeper interest in the subjects discussed and assist in im- 
proving some of the unsatisfactory conditions existing at present. 

It was decided to include the first and second prize essays 
and an abstract from the other essays of such portions, classi- 
fied by subject, as were especially important. 

The selection of the material for publication from the large 
volume submitted has been a difficult task and the committee 
regrets that it was not able to include a larger proportion. 

Jerome C. Read, 
Emil J. Stehli, 
William Hand, 
George A. Post, 
P. D. Saklatvala, 

Committee. 
Ramsay Peugnet, Secretary. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface 3 

Introduction 5 

International Classification of Raw Silk by its Defects, Warren P. 

Seem, Altoona, Pennsylvania 11 

The Possibilities of a Rational Raw Silk Classification, D. E. Douty, 

New York 45 

The Principles of Raw Silk Inspection, J. A. Scheibli, Easton, 

Pennsylvania 57 

The Test for Quality, or How the Quality of Raw and Thrown Silks 
Can be Measured and Standardized, with Some Suggestions for 

Improvements of Their Quality, H. W. Smith, New York 89 

Abstracts • 113 

Classification of Raw Silk: 

Raw Silk Defects 117 

Japan Raw Silk 119 

Remedies 121 

Lousiness 123 

China Raw Silk 123 

Lacings 125 

Storage 126 



The Silk Association of America 
Prize Essay Competition 

INTRODUCTION. 

EARLY in lUl-i the following circular of information was sent 
to the offices of the silk trade and the press by the secre- 
tary of The Silk Association of America : 

CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION. 

The Silk Association of America offers cash prizes listed below for 
the best written articles vipon the subject of silk. The competition is open 
to anyone engaged as employer, employee, or technical expert in the silk 
industry in America, including: the importing and sale of raw silk; the 
purchase, inspection, testing and grading of raw silk; and the throwing 
boiling, dyeing, and use of thrown silk. 

First Prize (One) $200.00 

Second Prizes (Three), Each 100.00 ' 

Third Prizes ( Four), Each ■. 50.00 

Fourth Prizes (Four), Each 25.00 

The prizes will be awarded, with the approval of the Board of Man- 
agers, by a special Committee on Awards, appointed by the President of 
the Association. All articles receiving prizes will become the property 
of the Silk Association and may be copyrighted, published and translated 
into any other language by it. 

Each paper will be judged upon the practical value of the informa- 
tion it contains, regardless of the form, penmanship, spelling, or English 
used. 

The names of persons sending articles will, upon request, be con- 
sidered confidential and not published. 

requirements. 

All manuscripts must be filed with the Secretary of- The Silk Asso- 
ciation of America, 354 Fourth Avenue, New York City, on or before 
Monday, June 1st, 1914. 

In order that the name of the writer may remain unknown to the 
Committee on Awards, the article should be written (if possible, type- 
written) upon plain paper, withotit printing of individual or firm name or 
identifying mark other than the key number furnished by the Secretary of 
The Silk Association. 

The Secretary will, upon application, furnish properly addressed en- 
velopes, Identification Cards and first page sheets with identification num- 
bers assigned in advance. If preferred, the writer may, however, send 
the article written on plain paper, with a transmitting letter giving name 
and address, direct to the Secretary, who will assign it an Identification 
Number, and seal an Identification Card in an envelope to be opened after 
the awards. 



6 The Silk Association of America 

SUGGESTIONS. 

The scope of the articles maj' include the discussion and information 
upon any or all parts of the industry, from the origin of the raw silk 
to the skein-dyed thrown silk and to products of the dyed silk in so 
far as the subject considered is influenced by or dependent upon quality, 
imperfections or properties of the raw silk. It should not include descrip- 
tions of the origin of silk and the processes through which it passes, 
commonly found in text-books. 

Articles founded upon experience will receive first consideration in the 
a-.' ard. Do not use books, except for reference, then give name and page, 
rather than lengthy quotations. 

The enclosed topics are suggested merely to assist and to call to 
mind subjects upon which the writer may have valuable information and 
experience. 

No one will be expected to cover the whole field outlined and each 
one is free to write the article on as few or as many topics as desired, 
or include any subject, not suggested, in which the writer is interested. 

The parent body made it quite plain that the competition 
was open to any one interested in the silk industry and offered 
special opportunity to practical mill men. The conditions of 
the competition were most liberal and special attention was 
called to the fact that those unaccustomed to writing articles 
would be given equal chance and equal consideration. The 
awards did not depend upon penmanship, spelling nor English 
used, nor upon the form in which the article was prepared, but 
would be based upon the practical value of its subject matter 
and the information furnished upon raw silk and its manufac- 
ture into any kind of goods. 

The circular of information, reprinted herewith, gave com- 
plete directions and indicated that in the awards first considera- 
tion would be given to practical suggestions, discussions and 
opinions and that the opportunity for the active, progressive, 
well-informed, practical man was just as good as for the cus- 
tomary writer of articles. 

It was evident from the announcement that the Association 
wished to accumulate as much information as possible which 
would assist in advancing and developing the silk industry in 
Arnerica. 

Special attention was directed to the discussion of the prop- 
erties, qualities and imperfections of raw silk; to the manner in 
which they become evident and affect the quality of the manu- 
factured product. The purchasing officers and those entrusted 
with the inspection of silk for manufacturing concerns should 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 7 

have an abundance of information upon which to prepare a very 
valuable article and so call attention to the many difficulties 
which confront them, with suggestions as to means for relieving 
adverse conditions. Throwsters by summarizing their experi- 
ences and pointing out the conditions which they meet in their 
business, should be able to furnish very valuable suggestions for 
the general advance of the industry, and the dyers possess a field 
abounding with the very best subject material upon raw and 
thrown silk. 

With the single intention of furnishing suggestions of suit- 
able available subjects, the Association included with the circular 
of information a list of topics, as follows : 

Changes in the making of skeins, books, bales, methods of pack- 
ing, etc., which would assist the American manufacturer. 

Most common defects found in raw silk, and the manner in 
which they affect the cost of production and the quality of 
product. 

Difficulties in throwing raw silk of the various kinds and grades, 
and the way in which the producer might overcome them. 

Why silks wind badly. 

Degree of irregularity found in bales of the same lot and chop 
and methods of determining it. 

Defects found by the dyer in boiling off various grades. 

Variation in the absorption of dyestuffs and dyes by the different 
kinds and qualities. 

Methods for the judgment of uniformity, luster, cleanliness and 
color. 

Reasonable limits for the number of single and double ends in 
different grades of raw. 

Inspection and testing of raw silk. 

Qualities which the various grades should possess, and the pos- 
sibility of defining and measuring them. 

The New York Classification of Raw Silk. 

The Yokohama Classification of Raw Silk. 



8 The Silk Association of America 

Relation of Yokohama to New York Classification and its defects. 

The possibility of an International Classification. 

Methods of determining grades of raw silk. 

The purchases of raw silk on chop ; advantages and disadvan- 
tages. 

Dif^culties met by the purchaser in determining the grade of 
deliveries. 

It was not expected that any single writer would include 
all of these topics, and none of them need be used, if other more 
interesting subjects occurred to the writer. 

It was duly announced that a special Committee on Awards 
would judge the articles, and the perfect, unbiased judgment of 
this committee was assured by the adoption of the good plan of 
concealing from them the names of the writers until after the 
awards were recommended and approved. Each article had an 
identification number, the key to which was filed in a separate 
envelope opened after the awards were made. 

Some fifty manuscripts were sent in on or before June 1, 
1914, and the task of reading them was immediately undertaken 
by the committee — Jerome C. Read, Emil J. Stehh, William 
Hand, George A. Post and P. D. Saklatvala. 

On December 22, 1914, the list of prize winners was an- 
nounced and the names, prizes won and the subjects of the 
various essays are given forthwith : 

First Prise Essay. 
'Tnternational Classification of Raw Silk by Its Defects." 
Warren P. Seem, Altoona, Pa. 

Second Prise Essays. 

"The Possibilities of a Rational Raw Silk Classification." 
D. E. Douty, New York. 

"The Principle of Raw Silk Inspection." J. A. Scheibli, 
Easton, Pa. 

"The Test for Quality, or How the Quality of Raw and 
Thrown Silks Can Be Measured and Standardized, with Some 
Suggestions for the Improvement of Their Quality." H. W. 
Smith, New York. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 9 

Third Prize Essays. 

"The Thrown Silk Market: Its Uses, Abuses and Its Fu- 
ture." D. S. Mercein and George M. Cossenas, New York. 

"Japan Raw Silk: Its Advantages, Defects of Quality and 
Suggestions for Overcoming Them. Also Other Recommenda- 
tions." George N. Berlet, New York. 

"Faith Among the Faithless." A. D. Simpson, New York. 

"The Scientific Classification of Raw Silk." James Chittick, 
New York. 

Fourth Prise Essays. 

"Some Important Defects Which May Arise During Throw- 
ing, Dyeing and Finishing of Silk." Karl B. Lamb, New York. 

"The Standardization of Japan Silks." Leo Duran, New 
York. 

"Raw and Thrown Silks." George H. Seelig, Pittsfield, 
Mass. 

"Standardization and Representation of Thrown and Raw 
Silks." Stanley Boekhout, Astoria, New York. 



International Classification of Raw Silk 
by Its Defects 

WARREN P. SEEM. 

TECHNICALLY speaking, no perfect skeins of raw silk 
reach the silk market, the highest grades representing but 
the highest degree of excellence. When a manufacturer buys a 
Grand Double Extra he expects to get a silk with the minimum 
number of defects, and that they be of the minimum size; he is 
aware that the silk contains slugs, nibs, knots, waste, etc., but 
he does not know the number of these defects nor at what num- 
ber the silk ceases to be a Grand Double Extra and becomes a 
Double Extra or a lower grade ; nor can an expert inspector 
give that information, because he has no means of obtaining that 
knowledge. In case of dispute, the manufacturer must accept 
the opinion of the inspector, who bases that on but a superficial 
examination of the silk. Inspectors claim that the defects vary 
between seasons due to atmospheric conditions beyond the con- 
trol of the sericulturists. 

Granting that this is the true situation, it is. a very strong 
reason why silk should be graded by the number of its defects ; 
assuming that allowance must be made for bad seasons, it should 
only apply to such defects as are made by the worm and not 
apply to those made by the reelers, excepting possibly such as are 
contributary to the reeling defects. Such allowances, however, 
would make room for irregularities of every description and soon 
discredit any method of grading. I propose to show that the 
variation in the number of defects due to those made by the 
worm is not as varying as is generally supposed, but that most 
of them are reeling defects and that by proper methods in the 
filatures a definite standard can be maintained by the reelers and 
make possible a classification by the number of defects. 

A commercially perfect skein of raw silk we will consider 
as one of continuous length, even in size and knotted together 
by short knots % inch or shorter and free from such defects as 
are larger than short raw knots. As short knots are no defect, 
but a means to a perfect thread, all reelers have recourse to the 
method of removing all defects by breaking them out and retieing 
the thread with a perfect knot, therefore whether the season be 



12 



The Silk Association of America 



good or bad, affecting but a local or 
the general silk raising district, all 
reelers have equal chances to reel a 
silk with a definite number of defects 
and classify same according to an in- 
ternational standard. 

When a manufacturer puts on the 
market a distinct brand of cloth, under 
a specific trade mark, he is expected 
to produce a uniform article year in 
and out; to do this he must have uni- 
form raw stock, consider its size, elas- 
ticity, tenacity, luster, hand or nature, 
winding qualities, evenness and clean- 
ness. Instruments have been stand- 
.ardized for ascertaining the size, elas- 
ticity and tenacity, but for evenness 
and cleanness no universal standard 
exists, yet these two qualifications en- 
ter very prominently into the making 
of every cloth, and regulate the work- 
ing qualities to a marked extent. 

As all the qualifications of raw 
silk do not enter into the need of every 
class of thread or cloth, it is therefore 
unnecessary that all of them be con- 
sidered in the grading, but only such 
as have a marked effect on its true 
valuation on a yardage basis. 

A certain cloth may not require a 
clean silk, and, as far as the finished 
cloth is concerned, any reasonable 
number of defects is allowable; nor 
need it be even, yet the fine ends and 
defects may be so numerous that the 
cost of throwing the silk may far ex- 
ceed the difference in price of a 
higher grade of raw, therefore, it is 
apparent that the value of a silk to 
the manufacturer is represented by the 



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1- 
A- 

3- 
>^- 
s- 

6- 
7 - 
8- 
9- 
20- 
1 

iL- 
3- 

f- 

S- 
6- 

7- 
S- 

9- 

30- 



_) 



Raw Silk Prize Essays ^'-^ 

actual cost of the prepared thread per yard as ready for the loom. 

The distinct characteristics of soft and hard natured Japans, 
Chinas and Italians are well known, and therefore no confusion 
can result in having a universal standard for the number of de- 
fects allowable for each grade of silk, to be applicable to Japan's, 
China's and Italy's raws. The advantages of such a universal 
classification are so apparent that I deem it unnecessary to enu- 
merate same. 

Under defects we will consider : Winding Qualities, Even- 
ness, Cleanness. 

Comparing the present method of grading raw silk as given 
by A. Rosenzweig in "Serivalor," pages 5, 6, 7, and by Leo Duran 
in "Raw Silks," with the proposed classification by its defects 
herein presented, many decided advantages will become apparent. 
As to the merits of the present method an inspector of no little 
standing said that their method was about as true as judging a 
basket of apples by those on top. 

The class of cloth, etc., manufactured to-day by the Ameri- 
can manufacturers calls for a uniform raw silk, therefore they 
are eagerly awaiting an international standard. . 

The first step towards an International Classification by its 
defects must be a scientific method of securing these defects. 
The author therefore presents herein a true method of determin- 
ing the defects in Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Canton raw silks 
which is the result of research work and thousands of tests and 
experiments during twenty-six years of experience in the throw- 
ing business. 

In my earliest experiments it was discovered that the spin- 
ning qualities of raw silk were principally dependent upon the 
number and kind of defects in the silk ; that often an Extra spun 
no better than a No. 1, at other times a No. 1 shows better than 
an Extra ; these tests showed a great variation in the number 
of defects in silk of the same grade ; second, that the winding 
qualities had no relation whatever to the quality of the silk, but 
that the spinning qualities did, but as spinning was too slow a 
process to get a test, in a reasonable length of time, it led to a 
search for a shorter method to secure the same results, eventually 
resolving in the making of a set of ground hardened steel gauges, 
graduated in deniers according to the diameter of silk as found 
by A. Rosenzweig. 

The diameter pf raw §ilk, according to Rosenzweig in "Seri- 



14 The Silk Association of Ame 



rica 



valor," page 28, is as follows : (The gauges have been numbered 
according to these sizes.) 

Deniers. Microns. Inches. 

8 42 16.5 

9 44 17.4 

10 47 18.3 

11 49 19.2 

12 51 20.1 

13 53 20.9 

14 55 21.7 

15 57 22.5 

16 50 23.2 

17 Gl 23.9 

18 63 24.6 

19 64 25.3 

20 66 25.9 

21 68 26.6 

22 70 27.2 

23 71 27.8 

24 73 28.4 

25 74 29. 

26 76 29.6 

27 77 30.] 

28 79 . . 30.7 

29 80 31.2 

30 81 31.7 

One Micron is .001 milhmeter, or 0.0000394 inch. 
One Milhmeter equals 0.03937 inch. 
25,400 Microns equal 1 inch. 

WINDING TESTS. 

The cost of a silk may be increased 15 cents per pound by 
an excessive number of loose ends in the skein ; these loose ends 
may be the result of breaking out of defects during the inspec- 
tion of the skein, therefore the broken ends in winding should be 
considered a defect and the winding test considered in the grad- 
ing. For other method of winding tests see A. Rosenzweig, in 
"Serivalor," pages 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, the Imperial Japanese Silk 
Conditioning House pamphlet. The author, unaware of Mr. 
Rosenzweig's tests, had determined upon 167 thread speed, a 
winder piecing up 140 to 160 breaks per hour. Mr. Rosenzweig 
adopted 165 thread speed and a winder piecing up to 120 to 150 
ends per hour. 

A true winding tegt is represented by the actual number of 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 15 

breaks in the whole skein, top, middle and bottom. These breaks 
are dependent on the swift speed, size of thread, kind of swifts, 
whether weighted or unweighted, gums and atmospheric condi- 
tions. 



WINDING TEST SHEET FORM NO. t^^^| 


— .-,♦** — v^^^H 


Ta« Se::-:4t. Pat,> ;vrc : . ll-;J,.^an,e '^^H^^l 


Stock & Grade -'ai^^^l 


: No. Ends Tested -.,.-, Thread Speed 1^^^^^ 


Starting Run Started Stopped • ^^ - Time 
Time. 

Winding Test Started • Stopped • Time 


Remarks 


f).,,i ( o.„. Hi, Hr ik- 


J.liEAK^ M'mhi . Ti'-l ., 


Fine. 




Loose ; ^__i,: 





Other Defects 


^ 


_..__ 


First End. 


Double Skeijt ; 


Count Total 5 





The speed must be such as to get close to actual practice in 
the American mills or such that it makes a bobbin hard enough 
to give good spinning results. A single head take-up spindle is 
used, so that the tension be not too positive and allows for re- 
lease when the thread gets tangled in the skein. 



^^ The Silk Association of America 

The author made his first tests on 60 skeins the first hour; 
the excessive breaks during the first half hour on some skeins 
shows this unreHable. 

Second, on 60 skeins for two hours ; this gave better results, 



WINDING TEST SHEET FORM NO. I 



Tag. 'i«^r-i?.-i'? Date 
Stock & Grade 
No. Ends Tested 




but the breaks the second hour were not low enough to give a 
proper average and results were not dependable. 

Third, on 60 skeins until 10% of the part ran bare, or about 
4 to 4>4 hours, adding 60 ends for the first end tied up so as to 
make it true on waste and cost estimates. This was used several 



Raw Silk Prize Essays i" 

years on a piece-work system and found reliable, but on account 
of the time required to get a test, a series of tests was conducted, 
keeping record of breaks every five minutes and on the whole 
skeins ; after calculating the same according to five different 
methods known to the writer, the following short method was 
adopted. This has been used for four years with a piece-work 
system in winding and found reliable. 

Thread speed, 167 yards per minute. 

Swifts ordinary, pin hub unweighted. 

Silk soaked properly and gums rubbed out when moist. 

Silk air dried to about 15 to 18% moisture. 

Atmospheric conditions: Humidity TO to 75% at the same 
temperature. 

WINDING COUNT. 

The winding counts are the breaks on 300,000 yards deter- 
mined as f olloAvs : 

WINDING SPEED. 

The winding speed to be 167 yards per minute Avlien the test 
is half finished on all classes of silk. 

THREAD SPEED. 

By thread speed is meant the number of yards taken up in 
one minute when the bobbin is half full. As the skeins, bobbins 
and spindle heads vary in size, it is the only uniform speed. 

To determine the thread speed approximately from the speed 
of the swift, measure the skein in inches folded, multiply by 2 
and then reduce to yards. This times the revolutions of the 
swift, gives the number of yards winding in one minute, for 
which we have the following formula : 

D = Length of skein in inches double. 
2 = Rule for circumference of skein. 
36 = Inches to one yard. 
S = Revolutions of swift per minute. 
X = Thread speed. 

D X 2 X S 

== X 

36 
Example: Let the skein measure 29 inches long double, 
revolution of swift be 91, then 
29 X 2 X 91 

— =: 116 Thread speed. 

36 



18 The Silk Association of America 

To determine the friction roll speed of the machine, esti- 
mate from the thread speed of the half full bobbin. 

The dimensions of Organ Winder bobbins are as follows : 

Diameter Bobbin head 2^" Circumference 6.67" 

Diameter Barrel l}i" Circumference 4.32" 

Diameter Average Circumference 5.50" 

Diameter of bobbin at end of 15 minutes starting run 1 14/32" 

Circumference 4.52" 
Diameter of bobbin at end of winding test 1 12/16. . . .Circumference 5.51" 

The silk on a full Organ Winder bobbin weighs 0.106 lb, 
and the bobbin contains 31,800 yards of single thread, 14/16 
denier. 

The Columbia winding frames have the following cones on 
shaft and machine, 4 steps, 6'', W, 4", Z" . 
The friction wheels are AlYz" diameter. 
Spindles have \yi" head. 

The friction roll speed is determined as follows from the 
thread speed : 

T == Thread speed of half full bobbins. 
36 = Inches to yard. 
5.50 = Circumference of half full bobbin. 
S =: Spindle speed. 
D =: Diameter of friction roll. 
Hd. = Diameter of spindle head. 
R = Revolution of friction roll. 
Formula: T X 36 S X Hd. 

= S = R 

5.50 D 

On the Columbia winder T = 184. 
184 X 36 ' 1202 X 1-25 

^ 1202 = 334 roll. 

5.50 4.50 

At a thread speed of 167 yards when the test is half finished 
on the Columbia winder with Organ bobbin the speeds are as 
follows : 

Friction roll 334 

Spindle speed 334 X 4.50 1202 

1.25 
Thread speeds : 

15 minutes starting run. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 
On empty bobbin 1302 X 4.32 



36 
At end of starting run 

1202 X 4.52 



= 144 Thread speed 



151 



36 
Average = 144 -|- 151 



147 



2 
WINDING TEST. 

Starts at 1202 X 4.52 



Stops at 
Average 





36 




1202 


X 


5.51 




36 




151 


+ 


184 



151 Thread speed 



184 



167 



RUNNING TIME AND YARDS. 

Yards. 
Starting run 147 thread speed X 15 minutes = 2,205 
Winding test 167 thread speed X 90 minutes = 15,030 

17,235 
(In figuring actual speeds add 4 % to time for shp and 
loss in piecing up.) 

WINDING TIME AND YARDAGE. 

Make a starting run of 15 minutes to avoid the excessive 
breaks. According to rule, already given, the starting run aver- 
ages 147 thread speed, the winding test 167. We have : 
147 thread speed X 15 minutes = 2,205 yards 
167 thread speed X 90 minutes = 15,030 yards 
The winding test is to be counted only on the last 90 minutes. 
We have 90 minutes X 15,030 X 20 bobbins = 300,600 yards. 
Add 4% to the time to make up for slip and loss in piecing up. 
We have the actual winding time then as : 

Starting run 16 minutes 

Winding test 93 minutes 



■^^ The Silk Association of America 

Since the 300,000 yards are measured in winding it is im- 
portant that the friction wheels, spindle heads and bobbins be 
uniform. The test must be kept running and every effort must 
be made by the operator not to have more than one end idle at 
one time. On a bad lot the operator must be given a helper. 
See that spindles are well chalked and run up to speed. 

METHOD OF MAKING COUNT. 

Select 20 skeins from 20 different books of the bale. 

Soak properly, and then dry until the silk is in good working 
condition; rub out gums, if any, skein up 10 skeins regular and 
turn the remaining 10 skeins with the under side up so as to get 
the average condition of the skeins. 

Find end and wrap on bobbin, then run about }i minute ; 
when the 20 ends are ah ready time test sheet and start out bob- 
bins as close together as possible ; wind starting run, running 16 
minutes ; mark down all the breaks in the proper column, but 
keep them separate from the actual winding test. Run the actual 
winding test 93 minutes longer, marking down all breaks in the 
proper column. (See test sheet No. 1.) Tie the winding knots 
about Yz" long so as to be able to readily distinguish them in the 
quality test. 

WINDING COUNT. 

The sum of all breaks for the last 93 minutes equals the 
breaks on 300,000 yards ; to this add 8 for single skeins and 24 
for double skeins, the sum of which equals the winding count. 
(See test sheet No. 1.) The 8 breaks are added on the single 
skein and 16 additional on the double skein for the excessive 
breaks when first skein runs off and second skein starts out, to 
make it true with that on whole skein tests and also hold out 
with waste and cost estimates. 

FOR TUSSAH AND SHORT LENGTH SKEINS. 

For regular winding and test use as close to 167 average 
thread speed as can be run with frame and bobbins used, with- 
out weights. Wind 20 skeins until three skeins run bare, when 
stop test. Time from start to finish. Multiply this time by the 
number of spindles run (20) and divide this result into the total 
breaks plus 20 for the first end tied up. This result is the breaks 
per spindle hour which times the following table gives the breaks 
per 300,000 yards: (4%. allowed for slip and loss in tieing up.) 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 



21 



169 average thread speed times 30,7 

166 " " " " 31.8 

164 " " " " 31.70 

(See test sheet No. 2.) 

(Note. — The winding and cleanness test cannot be made with 

one operation for the following reasons : 

First: It is impossible to get a true winding and cleanness 
test at the same time. 

Second : The winding is the most expensive operation in 
throwing, and the value of silk may be reduced a grade by ex- 
cessive labor cost and waste.) 

QUALITY TEST. 
METHOD OF MAKING. 

Take 10 bobbins from the winding test (using every other 
one) and redraw them bare through the cleaning apparatus at 
250 thread speed. Use a double head wool spindle V/i" diameter 
or a single head iron spindle iy4" diameter. (This to make the 
tension such that a thread of 7 deniers coarser than size tested 
will stop the take-up bobbin or break down.) Note starting and 
stopping time. The gauges are marked in deniers and the average 
size is to be used. That is on a 13/15 denier silk, shift the cleaners 
so that the thread runs through at No. 14. Mark down all defects 
as found ; if two or more defects are on the thread you are tieing, 
mark down all of them. (See test sheet No. 3.) 

Do not wait until you have several ends tied up before mark- 
ing down the defects, but mark them down at once so as to be 
accurate. It is unnecessary to examine the waste made in piecing 
up for defects. (Only 10 bobbins are used in cleaning, so as to 
make the testing time nearly uniform. A series of tests on 10 
bobbins only showed a maximum variation of 2%.) 

It is unnecessary to keep every end running during this test, 
as the length is determined in the winding. This gives the 
operator more time to examine the defects and note the same 
correctly. 

It is very important that the thread run exactly at the proper 
size, and this must be watched every time an end is tied up. If 
the gauges become choked up with waste, clean them out with a 
No. .0015 feeler. Don't force a larger size feeler in, as it will 
scratch the cleaner. Keep the gauges covered and well oiled with 
clock or light spindle oil when not in use. 



23 The Silk Association of America 

COMPUTATION. 

Sum up all the defects and multiply by 1.75, which gives 
the result on 300,000 yards. 

(10 bobbins contain 172,350 yards; this time 1.75 gives 301,- 

1 

QUAUTY TEST FORM NO. 3 

Tag - ' Oiti- Namc 

No, Ends Testet) ^ Speedy „L '' ": '''» . 

Test Started Stopped Test Time • -• 

Rcmarkiji 





su 


VSMARY 


Fir,e X ,^ >.^ 


'"""• 


ffl.-6,\4'U)5 


Coar^ , , 






Small Ra^v Knot» ^ ^, ^ ., x ^ 






-M. '-•-«,----. - 






'^ ... -^ 






Bad Knot? -^ -^^ -, -^. 






XVinAng Knots 






2-thieads 






Nihs 






Skgs \ > . ^, ^ ^., -, 






Loops 

SpLtEnds -s. 
CorWiew^ 


- 


~ 


Bad Tl^.ow^ 

hi DouLt j 







613 yards, or slightly over 300,000. On account of variation in 
speeds and time lost in piecing up, this is about as close as can 
be calculated. The winding time is regulated on various speeds 
to give this yardage as close as possible.) 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 23 

CANTONS. 

On Canton silks make the cleaning test on 5 bobbins. Use 
the coarsest size instead of the average, as on Japans, Chinas 
and Itahans, that is, on a 14/16 denier use No. 16 gauge. 

The actual breaks multiplied by 3.50 gives the result on 
300,000 yards. 

(It has been found in these tests that as the number of de- 
fects increases, the results are true on a smaller number of sam- 
ples, as the defects get closer together on the thread and the 
result follows as a natural sequence.) 

Jan., 1915. 20 Samples reeled 3,000 yards, total 60,000 yards, on 
Japan, China and Italians and 20 samples reeled 2,000 yards, total 40,000, 
on Canton Filatures, gives true results. This method shortens the time 
of les'. See sketch for method of applying gauges to reel. 

June 1st, 1914. 

QUALITY REPORT NO. SAMPLE 

Lot Sample 

Bale-Mark Sample 

Chop Sample 

Color White even 

Hand Good 

Skein Amer. Standard 

Bales • • Sample 

Average size 14/16 

Luster High 

Gums Free 

Winding count 34 

EVENNESS. 

Fine winding 3 

Fine cleaning 32 

Coarse cleaning 5 

Total 40 



CLEANLINESS. 

Waste 14 

Bad-knots 66 

2-Threads 

Nibs 

Slugs 70 

Loops 2 

Split-ends 8 

Bad-throws 4 

All others 7 

Total 171 

Quality No • • 235 

Raw Knots 238 

[Signed] 



^'^ The Silk Association of America 

The coarsest size is used, as manufacturers using Cantons 
expect many defects, so that by using the larger gauge the small- 
est ones are allowed to pass, at the same time not destroying the 
relation with better grades of silk. 



DEFECTS. 

The following are the defects in raw silk and their tech- 
nical names : 

Fine Threads. Good Raw Knots. 

Coarse Threads. Bad Raw Knots. 

Waste. Winder Knots. 

Two-threads. 

Slugs. Bouchons. 

Corkscrew. Vrille. 

Split Ends. Coste. 

Loops. Duvet. 

Bad Throws. Mauvais Lances. 

EVENNESS. 

The evenness of the silk is represented by fine and coarse 
threads. In marking down the fine and coarse threads the 
operator must bear in mind that silk is not a definite diameter 
like wire, but that a 13/15 denier silk will vary from 13 to 15 
deniers. According to Rosenzweig, the difference between a silk 
of 13 and 14 deniers is only 0.00008 inch and is hardly discerni- 
ble with the naked eye ; it is possible, however, to see the differ- 
ence between a 13 and 15 denier and the difference between a 
12 and 16 denier is quite noticeable. If it should happen that a 
thread of 12 deniers should be tied to one of 16 deniers and 
break down at the knot, one operator might mark down a fine 
end and the other a coarse end, according to which thread she 
examined, whereas only the knot should have been entered, as 
neither 'thread was fine nor coarse enough to cause an irregu- 
larity that might be noticed in manufacturing. It is the pur- 
pose then of the test to mark up only those fine ends that are fine 
enough to affect the throwing and manufacturing and cause un- 
evenness that will show. 

FINE THREADS. 

Fine threads are invariably accompanied by bad throws, 
coarse threads, knots, etc. ; the reason for it is found in the fact 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 35 

that fine ends are the results of neglect on the part of the reeler 
who fails to nourish the thread with the necessary cocoons, then 
when she discovers the thread is running fine, adds several fibers 
at once which, with the superfluous end, causes an increase of 
the diameter of the thread to such an extent that they are caught 
in the cleaner. It appears to be the thread of 7 deniers and 
under that causes the breaks in throwing, but to show the condi- 
tion causing corkscrew and use the following method the fine 
ends have been set at 10 deniers and under on a 14/16 denier 
s'lk; on other sizes they run about 5 deniers under the average 
si^e. 

To determine a fine end proceed as follows : Take the fine 
thread and make a knot on it thus : 



Be sure not to make a knot with two short ends on it, thus: 

IL 

Take this thread with the knot on it and put it in the cleaner at 
8 denier ; if the knot passes through the 8 denier with a light 
tension on the thread, it is a fine end ; if the knot does not pass 
through under a fight tension, then work the thread out on the 
gauge until it passes through. Those passing through at the 
same gauge number or under that the silk is tested on, are fine 
ends ; those passing above this are regular threads. Be cautious 
not to stretch the thread, also do not start at the high denier 
and work in, as you will find that the knot becomes smaller after 
it once passes through the gauge. It will not be necessary to 
do this on all fine ends, only on those in which the tester is in 
doubt. 

COARSE THREADS. 

Coarse threads are made by an excessive number, or double 
cocoons. Count them only when they are about one-half yard 
long or longer and the thread is practically clean. A thread may 
be coarse owing to a number of nibs, slugs and waste that have 
been run up from the basin or cocoon; in this case mark down 
a slug or waste, whichever predominates, but do not enter a 
coarse thread. A coarse thread is only to be entered when it 
is made by a double cocoon or several more cocoons have been 
added than required. The rule we use for fine ends to enter 
both the fine end and defect should not apply to coarse threads, 



26 The Silk Association of America 




Method of applying Gauges to Reel. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays ■-" 

as ci line end is always a defect due to the lack of the necessary 
cocoons, while a coarse thread may be made that by a great 
number of defects, thus increasing- the size of the thread. The 
presence of the slugs or waste is in itself a defect and a coarse 
thread should therefore not be counted. 

The tension at 250 thread speed is such that with a double 
1^4'' head wood spindle or single 1/4'' head iron spindle a thread 
8 deniers coarser either breaks down at a coarse end or holds 
back the take-up bobbin. When the thread holds back the take-up 
bobbin it is to be counted the same as a break. 

To prove the reliability of the evenness test, the following 
tests were run : 

I took the sizing skeins coming in two bales of China on a 
"Rose Chop Extra" and the other a "Gold Crown Chop No. 2." 
The sizing ran quite uniform on the "Extra" and in summing 
up the skeins below the average showed 4.1% unevenness, those 
above the average 3.6% unevenness, or a total unevenness of 
7.7%. The cleaning test showed one fine end of about 7 deniers, 
this on 300,000 yards would show an unevenness of 22. 

The No. 2 sizing skein showed a 12.86% total unevenness 
above and below the average, or just 5% greater than the "Ex- 
tra." 

The quality test showed 9 fine ends, which on 300,000 yards 
would make 207. You will notice from these results that by siz- 
ing skeins the difference is but 5%, while with the cleaning test it 
is 940%, which, judging from the great variation of the No. 2 
on China, showed a far more true condition. 

The evenness test shows a ratio of one fine thread to 2^^ 
coarse threads, which causes a corkscrew on a double thread. 
When the ratio is 1 to 3, as frequently happens when the coarse 
threads are numerous, the corkscrew is quite marked. 
The evenness is to be classified as follows : 
Fine and 
Coarse Threads. Grade. Classification. 

Under 30 Double Extra Very Good 

30 to 40 Extra Good 

40 to 50 Good No. 1 to Extra Good 

50 to 70 Good No. 1 Fair 

70 to 110 No. 1 Only Fair 

110 to 150 No. 1 to iy2 Poor 

150 to 200 No. iVo to 2 Very Poor 

200 to 250 . .No. 3 Very Poor 



Raw Knot. 
Raw Knot. 




Plate 1. 




^me; ^^oop? 



Waste. 



^^''aste. 



Plate 2. 



30 The Silk Association of Ame 



rica 



CLEANNESS. 

The uncleanness of silk is represented by the following de- 
fects : Bad knots, waste, two-threads, nibs, slugs, loops, split 
ends, bad throws, twisted on ends and corkscrew, and shown on 
the following plates which were carefully selected and represent 
the different kinds of each defect found in Japanese, Chinese and 
Italian Raw Silks. They represent the actual size. 

PLATE No. 1. 

The defects shown on Plate No. 1 represent the size of 
those found in a Grand Double Extra Silk. The number found 
in 300,000 yards is about as follows : 

Raw Knots 300 to 450 

Nibs 30 and under 

Slugs 30 and under 

Fine , 20 and under 

Coarse 5 and under 

Loops • • . . 5 and under 

These increase gradually in size and number to those shown 
on Plate No. 2. 

PLATE No. 2. 

The defects shown on Plate No. 2 represent the size of those 
found in a 1 to 1^2 Japanese Raw Silk. The number found in 
300,000 yards is about as follows : 

Corkscrew 50 to 80 

Nibs 200 to 400 

Slugs • • 400 to 600 

Bad Knots 100 to 150 

Fine Threads 80 to 175 

Bad Throws •• 100 to 200 

Loops 50 to 60 

Waste ^ . 100 to 150 

Split Threads 30 to 50 

Coarse Threads 100 to 125 

The defects increase in size as they increase in number. On 
grades under Extra about 40% of the defects are large. The 
fine threads also are finer as they increase in number. 

PLATE No. 3— SMALL RAW KNOTS. 

A commercially perfect skein of silk we will consider as one 
of continuous length knotted together by short knots, ^'' or 
shorter. Small raw knots are therefore no defect, but a means 
to a perfect thread, and should therefore not be included in the 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 3i 

quality number ; they should, however, be noted on the quality 
report, as sometimes silk of low grades is rereeled carefully and 
raised several grades. It will also serve as a guide in a technical 
inspection and comparison with Italian and Chinese Silks which 
are not rereeled. 

On ItaHan Silks they run from 10 to 100. 

On Japanese Silks they run from 100 to 700. 

PLATE No. 4— BAD KNOTS. 

A bad knot is known by the ends being glued together, as 
shown, and causes trouble in throwing and manufacturing and 
must therefore be counted as a defect. They, however, are not 
always glued together, as sometimes they are made when re- 
reeling the skeins dry. These knots make constant trouble and 
about 40% break out in throwing. They run about as follows 
on the following grades of silk : 

Double Grand Extra 

Double Extra 3 to 10 

Extra 10 to 20 

Best No. 1 to Extra 20 to 30 

Best No. 1 30 to. 40 

1 -40 to' 100 

1 to 1^ 100 to 150 

The larger ones being found mostly in the lower grades 
of raw. 

PLATE No. 5— WASTE. 

Sometimes you will find an accumulation of defects on the 
thread of which you are doubtful whether they are waste or 
slugs; for uniformity call all such defects, of any length, when 
they are twisted in or matted together tight, slugs ; all loose for- 
mations on the thread or spreading out in all directions and not 
loops or bad throws, call waste. These defects are very trouble- 
some and about one-third break out in throwing. They run about 
as follows in the various grades of silk : 

Grand Double Extra 

Double Extra 

Extra 10 to 20 

Best No. 1 to Extra 20 to 30 

Best No. 1 30 to 60 

No. 1 • • 60 to 100 

1 to IH •. 100 to 150 

The larger ones are found mostly in the lower grades of raw. 



The Silk Association of Amei 




Plate 3 — Small Raw Knots. 



Raw Silk Prize Kssays 




Plate 4— Bad Knots. 



34 The Silk Association of America 

PLATE No. 6— NIBS. 

Call small slugs about the size of a raw knot or slightly 
larger a nib ; if there are two nibs close together and when they 
are large or oblong call them slugs. The idea is to call those that 
will not show on the thread when thrown nibs and those that are 
large and will show, slugs. Threads that have a number of slugs 
on them and are large also call a slug. The nibs show about 
the following on the various grades of raw : 

Grand Double Extra 30 and under 

Double Extra 20 to 30 

Extra 30 to 50 

Best No. 1 to Extra 50 to 100 

No. 1 200 to 300 

1 to 1^ ■ 300 to 400 

This is one of the defects that seems to appear more numer- 
ous in hard nature silks. As they are small, they rarely show in 
the finished cloth, except on high-class goods, and then only when 
they are very numerous. Practically none of these are removed 
in throwing. They are counted in the quality numbered so as 
to maintain its relative value, as is explained under the proper 
head. 

PLATE No. 7— SLUGS. 
Call small slugs about the size of a raw knot or slightly 
larger a nib; if there are two nibs close together and when they 
are large or oblong call them slugs. The idea is to call those 
that will not show on the thread when thrown, nibs, and those 
that are large and will show, slugs. Threads that have a number 
of slugs on them and are large, also call slugs. The slugs show 
about as follows on the various grades of raw : 

Grand Double Extra Under 30 

Double Extra 30 to 50 

Extra 50 to 80 

Best No. 1 to Extra 80 to 120 

Best No. 1 120 to 200 

No. 1 • • 200 to 400 

1 to AYi 400 to 600 

This defect shows up about twice as large in the dyed state. 
As they are generally glued together firmly, not more than 5% 
are removed in throwing. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 35 

PLATE No. 8-LOOPS. 

Sometimes you will have a break without any apparent cause, 
but on closer examination you will notice one of the cocoon fibers 
longer than the rest, thus : 



This invariably is due to the loop doubling up in the cleaners 
and breaking down the thread ; call such breaks loops. You will 
also find them in other breaks when also enter same. Only the 
large loops are caught in the cleaners, and those shown on quality 
report do not nearly represent those in the silk. They are of 
such size that they not only cause the silk to be unclean, but also 
afifect the strength of the thread and must be considered a serious 
defect. They run about as follows on the following grades of 
silk : 

Grand Double Extra 50 and under 

Double Extra 50 to 100 

Extra 100 to 200 

Best No. 1 to Extra 200 to 300 

Best No. 1 300 to 400 

No. 1 400 to 550 

1 to 11^ 450 to 600 

PLATE No. 9— SPLIT ENDS. 

The split ends afifect the strength of the thread ; the maximum 
number caught is about 40. They are only caught when a loose 
fiber splits ofif and causes a break. They do not represent all in 
the thread, but when they run high it is a sure sign of many more 
in the silk and where strength is required it is well to avoid the 
lot. 

PLATE No. 10— BAD THROWS. 

These are the result of carelessness in reeling and generally 
indicate inexperienced operatives. The thread usually is quite 
uneven when they are numerous. They run about as follows in 
the following grades of raw : 

Grand Double Extra 

Double Extra Under 5 

Extra 5 to 15 

Best No. 1 to Extra 15 to 30 

Best No. 1 ; 30 to 60 

No. 1 60 to 100 

1 to V/2 100 to 200 



■''6 The Silk Association of America 




rialc r,-Wasl-c. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 




Plate G— Nibs. 



The Silk Association of America 




Plate 7— Slugs. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 




Plate 8 — Loops. 



The Silk Association of Ameri( 




Plate 9— Split Ends. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 




Plate 10 — Bad Throws. Corkscrew Ends. 



42 The Silk Association of America 

Corkscrew Threads. 
These are caused by an uneven tension in reeling similar to 
that of making loops. They run about as follows in the follow- 
ing grades of raw : 

Grand Double Extra 

Double Extra 5 

Extra 5 to 15 

Best No. 1 to Extra 15 to 30 

Best No. 1 30 to 45 

No. 1 • • 45 to 60 

1 to iy2 60 to 80 

They affect both the strength and cleanness of the silk, prin- 
cipally the strength. 

The cleanness is to be classified as follows and to represent 
the sum of all the defects except the raw and winder's knots, fine 
and coarse threads : 

Mill Report 
Defects. Grade. Classification. 

125 & under Double Extra Very Good 

125 to 175 Extra Good 

175 to 275 Good No. 1 to Extra Good 

275 to 350 Good No. 1 Fair 

350 to 450 No. 1 Only Fair 

450 to 600 No. 1 to IH ' .Poor 

600 to 800 No. IH to 2 Very Poor 

800 to 1000 No. 2 Very Poor 

QUALITY NUMBER. 

The quality number represents a relative value in that the 
lower the number the less the defects, consequently the higher 
the true value of the silk and vice-versa, as per table following. 

It includes the winding breaks, since the silk is bought in 
skeins and the true value may be afifected 5 to 10 cents per lb 
by excessive waste and labor cost in winding. It is also neces- 
sary to the most economical selection of silk of the same grade 
when all the other qualifications are the same. 

Under evenness, the fine ends breaking out in winding are 
added again in order to show the true condition of the thread as 
received, also to calculate the change of size in throwing due to 
the breaking out of the fine ends. 

Classification of Raw Silk by quality tests : Compiled from 
over 200 tests of known grading to compare with Yokohama 
classifications : 



Quality A 
Under 


umber 
175. 


175 to 


250. 


250 to 


350. 


350 to 


450. 


450 to 


600. 


600 to 


800. 


800 to 


1060. 


1060 to 


1300. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 
JAPANESE, ITALIAN 



Gi ade 

.Double Extra. 

.Extra 

..Best No. 1 to 

.Best No. 1 ... 
. . No. 1 

.No. 1 to IK... 

.No. 1^ to 2. .. 

.No. 2 



VXD CHINESE. 

Subdivision. 
ll'indinig. Evetniess. Cleannes 
20 .HO 12.T 


25 


40 175 


32 

35 


50 275 

70 350 


40 


110 450 


. . . . 50 


150 600 


62 


200 800 


90 


2.50 1000 



CANTONS. 

S^ibdivision. 

Winding 
Quality Number. Grade. Count. Ez'enness. Cleanness. 

Under 900 Ex. Ex. A. Super Crack 70 50 800 

900 to 1050 Ex. Ex. A. Crack 80 70 900 

1050 to 1600.... Ex. Ex. A 100 100 1400 

1600 to 2170. . . .Ex. Ex. B. Crack 120 150 1900 

2170 to 2740 Ex. Ex. B 140 200 2400 

2740 to 3310 Ex. A 160 250 2900 

3310 to 4000.... Ex. B 200 350 .3400 

This method has been in use about three years and found 
reliable from working results in throwing. 

A summary of about 400 tests shows, basing the comparison 
on New York Classification, that occasionally Extra Extra and 
Extras show one and two grades lower ; quite frequently No. 1 
shows one and two grades better. Second, an average of all the 
tests about evens up on a price basis. Third, manufacturers buy- 
ing the best grades are the greatest losers. Fourth, silk received 
during the months of June, July, August and September averages 
about two grades lower than that received during the rest of the 
year; the increased defects are principally ruling defects. 

The subdivisions given for various grades were carefully 
made from standard chops of known Yokohama Classification, 
seasons 1911-1912. 

I submit the method for consideration of the Silk Association 
of America, and through it to the trade organizations of the Silk 
World for adoption. 

June 1, 1914. 



The Possibilities of a Rational 
Raw Silk Classification 

D. E. DOUTY 

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

THE possibility of the establishment of grades of any material 
depends very largely upon the precision with which its funda- 
mental characteristics can be defined and determined and the con- 
stancy of the relations which exist between the essential proper- 
ties. The goods manufactured from any raw material are 
directly affected by the quality of the raw material. Therefore 
those properties which are the most important in determining the 
quality of the manufactured product should receive first con- 
sideration in estabhshing grades of raw material. 

The requisites of any system of grading or classification, in 
order that it may be standard, are as follows : 

First. It must be uniform, unchanging and definite. 

Second. It must be as simple and as natural as possible. 

Third. It must be capable of use and interpretation by any 
individual of average intelligence and experience in the business 
of which it is a part. 

Any system of classification which depends upon visual in- 
spection and individual judgment only cannot become a universal 
standard, because it possesses no values capable of accurate defi- 
nition and is dependent entirely upon the experience, judgment 
and personal bias of the individual inspector. 

Such a system not only fails to furnish a standard by which 
trading can be conducted and controlled with complete under- 
standing, but becomes an untrustworthy and fluctuating measure 
capable of widely varying interpretation. It places in the hands 
of the unscrupulous a potent means of imfair competition and 
of imposition upon the unwary. 

THE PRESENT SYSTEMS OF SILK CLASSIFICATION. 

At the present time there is no real standard system of silk 
classification. In the large silk centers of the world there have 
grown up separately so-called systems of grading, which serve 



46 The Silk Association of America 

to divide the raw silk supply into rather indefinitely defined rough 
groups. These systems are not related or tied to one another 
by any fundamental principle and are therefore subject to a wide 
difference in interpretation. 

Such a classification as Grand Extra, Extra Classical, Best 
Classical, Classical, etc. ; or as Double Extra, Best Extra, Extra, 
Best No. 1, No. 2, etc., without any further description, is ex- 
ceedingly indefinite and the subject of continuous controversy. 
That it is, with variations and divisions, the system in use should 
not be accepted as the reason for believing it is the only possible 
and therefore the best method. It is a system based upon indi- 
vidual inspection and is subject to all of the weaknesses inherent 
in such systems. It leads directly to unsound competition in 
prices, unstable market conditions, restricted credits through un- 
certain market values and furnishes the greatest temptation to 
dishonest trade practices and deception. 

In the entire American market, the market upon which the 
raw material is purchased for the production of the largest 
amount of manufactured silk made in any one country, there are 
only a very few men capable of grading raw silk. If the Ameri- 
can manufacturers and their employees were given 100 books 
of Japan raw, ranging from double extra to No. 2, probably 99% 
would be unable to sort them into their respective grades, not- 
withstanding the fact that these same manufacturers purchased 
and consumed in 1913 nearly 28 million pounds of raw silk valued 
at approximately 93 milHon dollars. 

Of those who could sort them, it is very doubtful if any two 
would entirely agree. This is no discredit to the American manu- 
facturer nor reflection upon his intelligence or knowledge of his 
material; it is the fault of the system, or so-called classification, 
which by its indefiniteness makes a perfect agreement of opinion 
impossible. It is certainly time that a concerted endeavor should 
be made to develop a method of grading which will be standard, 
and available to all. 

The beginning of a movement in America for a Standard 
Silk Classification and vigorous and persistent efiforts on the part 
of the Silk Association of America for it, should not be consid- 
ered presumptuous. While from the standpoint of time we are 
the youngest nation in the silk manufacturing world, we are the 
largest consumers of raw silk. Of the sixty million pounds con- 
stituting the world supply in 1912-13, fifty-four million, or 93%, 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 47 

were consumed. Of this amount America imported nearly twen- 
ty-eight million pounds, or 52% ; slightly more than one-half. 

Manufacturers in other countries, located in or near dis- 
tricts engaged in sericulture and the reeling of raw silk, obtain 
first-hand information regarding the quality of a crop and the 
various local methods of grading it. The information of the 
American manufacturer is largely hearsay or from printed re- 
ports. It is quite natural and logical that he should desire definite 
uniform standards by which to determine the quality and value 
of the material which he purchases. It is also quite natural that 
he should desire standards that he can understand and use. 

SUGGESTED INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION. 

Inasmuch as America is not a producer of raw silk and is 
compelled to secure its supply from other countries, it is cer- 
tainly desirable that a standard classification of raw silk should 
be international,; at least with the countries most interested. An 
international system of classification would certainly be an im- 
portant aid and encouragement for international trading. 

The first important question is upon the properties of the 
raw silk itself. Does it possess properties and characteristics 
either physical or chemical sufficiently definite, uniform and con- 
stant to form the basis of a classification? 

A classification which shall be rational, uniform, standard 
and useful must be based upon the largest possible number of 
properties which can be accurately measured and the smallest 
possible number of properties which must be estimated or 
guessed. 

The properties of raw silk may be grouped into two general 
classes ; those which influence the quality of the manufactured 
product and those which influence its cost of production. 

The properties which affect the quality of goods produced 
from raw silk are tenacity, elasticity, size, uniformity, cleanli- 
ness, flossiness, number of single, double and split ends, even- 
ness of twisting, nature and color. Those which affect directly 
the cost of production are moisture, condition, amount of gum, 
and the winding. These last may easily be considered as sec- 
ondary qualifications unnecessary to a proper classification, be- 
cause they can be accurately specified in each contract for sale 
and are subject to accurate determination for each lot of silk. 



48 The Silk Association of America 

They cannot be considered as affecting essentially the quality 
of the silk. 

Of those which influence quality the first four, viz. : tenacity, 
elasticity, size and uniformity can be accurately determined, and 
they are by far the most important. There are even on the mar- 
ket mechanical means said to be capable of giving values upon 
which to grade cleanliness, number of fine and double ends and 
number of nibs. 

With this proportion of the principal properties capable of 
accurate measurement it would seem that we have a sufficient 
foundation upon which to construct a classification. The chief 
obstruction is the possibility that- by the very nature of things 
there does not exist a sufficiently close relation between these 
properties to make it possible to arrange them into grades. For 
example, a silk may have high tenacity and low elasticity, or 
it may be high in both tenacity and elasticity, and be lacking in 
uniformity, etc. The suggestion that a classification based on the 
physical properties could be devised is not new. It has been 
previously suggested, but no serious effort has been made to- work 
it out for the reason that sufficient data, systematically secured, 
have not been and are not now available. 

Two objections urged against the idea are that silk itself 
is not sufificiently uniform to make it possible to establish definite 
grades ; and that the fluctuations and changes with seasons would 
make it impossible to use the values of one year for another. 

The single silk fiber, the have, as it comes from the cocoon, 
is the most uniform of all the textile fibers. It is believed that 
the tensile strength per unit of cross section is fairly uniform 
and that the elasticity is usually proportional to the tensile 
strength. Probably by far the greatest part of the variation in 
tensile strength in silk reeled from the same quality of cocoons 
is due to imperfections in the reeling. Silk which shows uni- 
formity in size will show uniformity in tenacity and elasticity. 
The fact that there is wide variation in the tenacity and elasticity 
of silk of the same grade by the present method of classification 
is not surprising for the reason that the grading has been done 
on characteristics determined by inspection ; such as color, clean- 
liness, luster, etc., which may be related in no definite way to 
the other characteristics which can only be determined by meas- 
urement. 

That there are seasonal fluctuations in the physical proper- 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 4" 

ties of silk is well known. But in even the poorest seasons there 
never fails to be on the market, according to the present classi- 
fication, a quantity of the highest grades. 

With the current methods of grading it is the manufacturer 
who must stand the burden of the poor quality crop. The double 
Extra of one season may be no better in its actual physical prop- 
erties than a No. 1 of another season, and the manufacturer has 
only two choices ; he must either suffer a decrease in the quality 
of his product or buy a higher grade of silk. 

There has always been complaint of the unevenness of Jap- 
anese and Chinese silk. If uniformity in tenacity, elasticity and 
size were to become an important, recognized factor in the classi- 
fication of raw silk, the filatures would give additional attention 
to the quality of their work in order to secure the higher grading 
of their product. As long as visual inspection is the chief method 
of classification, imperfections detected by it will receive first 
consideration. 

This raises the Cj[uestion regarding the possibility of estab- 
lishing standards of reference for grading characteristics, such 
as color, luster, cleanliness, etc., determined only by inspection. 

The iVmerican cotton industry has devoted much time and 
thought to the establishment of just such standards for its use. 
Fortunately in this case, both the production and the manufac- 
ture are national enterprises and through the assistance of the 
United States Government nine grades of cotton for color and 
cleanliness have been established and will soon be in exclusive 
use. Similar standards were established for wool some years 
ago. This also was a national affair. 

The establishment of a standard Silk Classification based on 
physical properties and Raw Silk Standards for color, luster, 
cleanliness, etc., based upon reference sets would be a very great 
undertaking, requiring a large amount of labor, international 
co-operation and a considerable expense. If it could be accom- 
plished the result would justify the undertaking. 

SUGGESTED METHOD FOR SECURING AN INTERNA- 
TIONAL CLASSIFICATION. 

The only possible basis for an International Classification 
of raw silk are those properties which can be measured. It is 
vital that the measurements be made by the same methods under 



50 The Silk Association of America 

the same atmospheric conditions. To attempt to develop a system 
which would include all kinds of raw silk would be unwise, ex- 
pensive and very difficult. Inasmuch as European silks are not 
used extensively in America and Asiatic silks form the chief 
supply, the first attempt might properly be limited to interesting 
Japan and China in an endeavor to develop an International 
Classification and International Standards for use in our trade 
with those countries. 

It would certainly be very much to their interest to co- 
operate in securing the necessary information. 

The governments of both countries are anxious to assist their 
people in improving and extending their silk industry, and Japan 
has three very efficient government institutions devoted to silk 
investigations and testing. 

The first steps towards establishing an International Classi- 
fication would be the careful and systematic study of all qualities 
produced and graded under the present classifications. Samples 
collected simultaneously from different localities would be graded 
and regarded by a number of expert inspectors working inde- 
pendently until by agreement they represented the range of grades 
for that season. The samples could then be carefully studied by 
the official laboratories for Japan and China, if the latter estab- 
lishes one, and by the United States Conditioning and Testing 
Co., the official testing laboratory of the Silk Association of 
America. 

Reference samples could be kept on file for later reference 
or test. This would furnish a fair indication of the relation 
between the physical properties and the grades as they are now 
in use, for that particular season. Following up such a co-opera- 
tive investigation for several seasons would furnish data upon 
which it would be possible to gradually establish values for the 
different grades. The transformation could be brought about 
by easy steps and cause no disturbance or inconvenience in the 
trade. 

If an international standard classification could be estab- 
hshed it would eliminate much of the distrust, dissatisfaction 
and misunderstanding which is now current in the silk industry. 
The Japanese or Chinese silk merchant or his agent in America 
who agreed to furnish a given grade of silk would then know 
definitely the requirements of his customer and at the same time 
be conscious of the fact that his customer could verify for him- 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 5i 

self definitely, accurately and justly, whether those requirements 
had been fulfilled by the silk delivered. It would eliminate from 
the trading the cancellation of orders on trivial pretexts regard- 
ing quality and make the enforcement of contracts much easier. 
It would certainly reduce very much the present hazard in the 
purchase of raw silk. 

SOME SOURCES OF DISSATISFACTION WITH ASIATIC 
SILKS. 

GENERAL CONDITIONS. 

America has become the largest consumer of Asiatic silks 
and each year increases not only the quantity purchased, but the 
variety of uses to which they are applied. It is safe to predict 
that if certain imperfections both in the material itself and the 
methods of marketing it could be removed Asiatic silk would 
ultimately replace European silk in America. The remedies for 
these imperfections are almost entirely within the control of the 
raw silk producer and his merchandising organization in this 
country and abroad. The purchase of Asiatic silks has in it many 
of the elements of a lottery. Many manufacturers who could 
use the best qualities of Asiatic raw for the goods which they 
are producing, hesitate to make the change on account of the 
uncertainty regarding the quality of deliveries on contracts. 
Some of the larger manufacturers whose accounts are very de- 
sirable have less cause for complaint, but the majority of Ameri- 
can manufacturers are at times forced to accept inferior and 
unsatisfactory material in order to keep their mills running or 
meet orders. This causes them to hesitate in the purchase of 
Asiatic silks. 

The imperfections in Asiatic silks are chiefly those which 
affect the quality of the product. Of these the principal ones 
are : Lack of uniformity of grade, unevenness in size, fre- 
quency of fine, coarse, double and split ends, lack of cleanhness, 
irregularity of twisting, and streakiness. These are all subject 
to elimination by more careful supervision ; the factor which is 
most potent in maintaining the superiority of European over 
Asiatic silks. If the European filatures had not succeeded in 
producing rehable, uniform and clean silks it might be con- 
tended that silk is such a variable material in itself that it cannot 
be uniformly reeled and graded. But we have abundant proof 
that it can, by proper care, be made uniform. 



•^3 I'he Silk Association of America 

JAPAN SILKS. 

In recent years Japan has made remarkable progress in im- 
proving the quality of her raw silks by the introduction of Euro- 
pean methods. 

It is possible for American manufacturers who buy through 
their own representative in Japan or through New York farms 
owning or controlling filatures, to get silk of high quality, clean, 
uniform and well reeled. However, a large amount of Japanese 
silk reaches the American market possessing more of the imper- 
fections noted above than should be allowed in the grades in 
which they are sold. 

Uniformity in reeling and grading will, however, be accom- 
plished for Japanese silks as a whole only by some united or 
National movement on the part of the Japanese. Furthermore 
such an improvement will receive its proper reward in more ex- 
tensive use and better prices from American manufacturers when 
the methods of grading, packing, marketing and selling are so 
regulated as to guarantee to the American manufacturer that he 
will receive the quality of silk he requires and for which he pays. 

The present system of chops is absolutely useless as an indi- 
cator of quality, especially when purchases are made through the 
American market. A chop which has established a reputation 
for quality and produced a definite demand suddenly deteriorates. 
There can be only two causes ; either the reeler has substituted 
lower grades to meet the demands and reap a larger profit, or 
some one has deliberately substituted the popular chop ticket on 
a lower grade of silk. In either case it is the American manu- 
facturer who suffers. He has made his contract on chop, un- 
supported by any definite, measurable characteristics, and has no 
recourse. If his account is very desirable and he can allow addi- 
tional time for delivery, he may be able to get the unsatisfactory 
material replaced. If the Japanese government should enact and 
enforce a merchandising law requiring the registration, main- 
tenance and penalty for violation of chops as a method of identi- 
fication, it would accomplish much toward the elimination of some 
very serious trade abuses. 

It is not an uncommon experience in America to find in the 
same lot under a single chop bales which wind well and others 
that wind very poorly, showing that they either were from dif- 
ferent filatures or were two different grades from the same fila- 
ture. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 53 

Most of the defects found in Japan silk at the present time 
are due to the fact that the demand has become so large that the 
reelers are devoting their energies to obtaining greater quantity 
rather than better quality. The seller in America who is very 
often a purchaser in Japan is almost as liable to be a victim of 
these conditions as the manufacturer to whom he may with honest 
intent have sold the material. 

One of the most potent means of securing an improvement 
in Japanese silk as a whole would be the establishment of some 
kind of system which would protect and reward the careful reeler 
for high grade material and make it possible to locate the respon- 
sibility for low grade and imperfect material. 

The excuse which is often given by the Japanese, that it 
does not pay to incur the additional expense for better and more 
careful reeHng, because the American manufacturer will not pay 
the additional cost, can be easily answered by the statement that 
when the American manufacturer knows definitely that he can 
depend upon getting the quality for which he has contracted he 
will be willing and can afford to pay the advance in price. 

Lack of uniformity of grade in filatures is increased by the 
mixture of cocoons from different localities where the worms 
have been subjected to different atmospheric conditions and dif- 
ferent foods. 

The purchase and importations of cocoons from districts 
and even countries outside of that in which a filature is located 
Las become such a common occurrence that even the name of a 
filature is no longer an assurance that the silk reeled by it was 
produced in that particular district which may be reputed to 
produce certain characteristics much desired for particular pur- 
poses. 

If the cocoons are to be mixed they certainly should be very 
carefully graded and then reeled with additional care. 

The mixture of two different qualities of any material may 
temporarily secure for the lower grade a higher price than if it 
had been sold separately, but ultimately the better grade is re- 
duced to the lower price and the seller has lost not only in money 
value but in prestige. 

CHINA SILKS. 

Since the introduction of the steam filature in China, the 
quality of the silks from some districts has very much improved, 
and increasing use shows that they are growing in favor with the 



54 The Silk Association of America 

American manufacturer. However, taken as a whole, China 
silks still show a very large proportion of the imperfections men- 
tioned under the general subject of Asiatic silks. The American 
manufacturer has placed the strongest emphasis on the speed 
with which silks can be wound and the amount of waste made 
in throwing. In consequence, increasing attention has been de- 
voted to re-reeling, and many of the imperfections in the original 
reeling are concealed but not removed by re-reeling. 

Re-reeling at high speed may assist in reducing the number 
of fine ends by breaking them and in improving the crossings, 
but does not improve the quality of the silk in those character- 
istics which affect the quality of silk goods. Unevenness of size, 
frequency of coarse, double and split ends, irregularity in twist- 
ing, etc., still remain and very often the tenacity and elasticity 
are impaired. The improvement in China silk must come in the 
first reeling and will be accomplished chiefly through the elimina- 
tion of the hand reeling and the extension to all silk producing 
centers of the filature with better equipment and more careful 
supervision. 

The quality of the have produced in the north of China can 
be equal to the very best European, and, if it is treated with the 
same degree of care, will yield raw silk of the very best quality. 
The have produced in the Southern provinces is generally softer, 
more spongy and lower in tenacity and elasticity. But here again 
the need of better reeling is the important demand. There are 
many uses for these silks in America if it were not for their 
unevenness and poor winding quality. With the high cost of 
labor and the decrease in production the expense of throwing 
becomes prohibitive. 

Combining an improvement in quality in the Chinese silks 
with the confidence which the American manufacturer has in 
the Chinese merchandising methods and integrity, our consump- 
tion of Chinese silks would be enormously increased. 

During the past year, according to the report of the Silk 
Association of America, the United States' silk supply, 28 
million pounds, was distributed approximately as follows: 8.9% 
European, 68.1% Japanese, 21.8% Chinese, 1.2% other countries. 
The use of European silks is decreasing, and there seems to be 
very little prospect of it ever becoming greater. In the silk 
centers of Europe greater difficulty is experienced each year in 
getting and keeping reelers in the filatures, and the demand in 



Raw Silk Prize Essays • 55 

the home markets is sufficient to absorb most of the supply and 
keep up the price. 

It is therefore to Asia that America must look for its future 
supply. As our industry increases we are more and more de- 
pendent on Japan for the better grades. 

The following table shows the manner in which the raw silk 
imports have changed in the past eight years. It is computed 
from values collected by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic 
Commerce and the money values are based on the Foreign In- 
voices : 

PROPORTION, BY COUNTRIES, OF THE RAW 
SILK IMPORTED IN 1906 AND 1913. 

1913. 1906. 

By By By By 

Countries. Weight %. Value %. Weight %. Value %. 

France 0.3 0.2 2.8 2.9 

Italy 8.6 10.6 22.1 23.6 

Chinese Empire 21.8 17.3 16.4 13.4 

Japan 68.1 70.6 58.1 59.5 

Miscellaneous 1.2 1.3 0.6 0.6 

Within this period European silks have decreased from 
25% of our supply to about 10%, while Chinese have increased 
from 16% to 31% and Japanese from 58% to 68%. 

It is interesting to note that in the case of the European 
silks the decrease in the proportion "by weight" has been accom- 
panied by a slightly greater decrease in money "value." In the 
Chinese silks the increase in the proportion "by weight" was not 
accompanied by any equal increase in money "value," while in 
the Japanese silks the increase in the proportion by weight was 
exceeded about 1.1% by the increase in the proportion "by 
value." The situation is of course too complex to attempt to 
fix the cause for this increased proportion of money value to 
Japan, but one thing is certain : As her monopoly increases the 
prices will increase. It is therefore important that the silk in- 
dustry of America should endeavor to broaden its source of raw 
material. China is Japan's most formidable rival. Her labor 
and climatic conditions are just as favorable to the production 
of a good quality of raw silk at low cost as Japan's. 

If by any means sericulture in China could be brought to a 
state of careful supervision and control, the quality of China 
silks would rapidly improve and come more directly in competi- 



?6 The Silk Association of America 

tion. Not only does China need more careful supervision hi 
winding, but the Chinese should be brought to reahze the in- 
creasing importance of the selection of their eggs and the worms 
during the state of growth and the careful grading of the cocoons 
before reeling. The new government of China is very anxious 
to improve the industrial conditions of the country, and has 
already undertaken some radical reforms. 

The newly organized Agricultural Department is doing much 
to improve the agrarian life of the nation. There is little doubt 
if this department could be brought to see the need and advan- 
tage of improving the sericulture and the immense advantage to 
be gained nationally by a more careful supervision, it would take 
immediate steps to secure improvement. 

Since the organization of the new RepubHc of China numerous 
commissions have visited this country to study our institutions 
and laws. The two governments are on the most friendly terms 
and it is believed that suggestions originating in America as to 
ways and means of increasing trade will receive very careful 
consideration. 

If the Chinese Government could be persuaded to establish 
laboratories, conditioning houses and a supervisory inspection 
service to assist their silk producers to prepare their raw silk in 
better condition for the American market, it would not only mean 
increased trade for them, but an expanded source of supply for 
the American silk industry. 

The American manufacturers, through their organization, 
the Silk Association of America, and in co-operation with the 
United States Government, should endeavor to place before the 
Chinese silk producers and government their needs and require- 
ments and encourage the Chinese in their earnest efforts to im- 
prove their raw silk. It would probably require some time to 
secure any evident results, but the fundamental need of any 
manufacturing enterprise is cheap and abundant raw material. 
Therefore the systematic encouragement of competition in quan- 
tity, quality and price of raw silk is a matter for very careful 
consideration. 



The Principles of Raw Silk Inspection 

J. A. SCHEIBLI. 

RAW silk inspection must be adapted to the manufacturing- 
conditions of a country. 

In Europe, owing to their cheaper labor, more patient and 
willing help, fewer changes in factory workers, manufacturers 
are enabled to use finer sized silks and lower grades. With them 
the selection and use of raw silk depends on the question of how 
much can be economized in the size and quality of raw silks used 
to produce the right goods. 

Economy is the keynote to the success of manufacturing in 
Plurope because the wages there are much more on the same level. 
The prices they have to pay for the raw materials are, of course, 
nearly the same, and so are the prices they get for the manu- 
factured goods, because these are stipulated by competition. 

Now, then, with the same cost of raw material, the same 
cost of labor, the same low prices obtained for the goods, the 
only way left for a manufacturer to meet competition is to apply 
the strictest economy, first of all, in the careful selection and use 
of the cheapest suitable raw silk qualities for each and every 
different use. 

A raw silk inspector, therefore, must be above all an ex- 
perienced manufacturer in order to be enabled to apply his 
knowledge of the raw materials together with the one of manu- 
facturing to the greatest profit for the mill. 

The cost of raw silks being in a much larger proportion to 
the wages, say, for instance, 70 to 30 — where for the same goods 
it would be from 50 to 50 here — it is only logical that the greater 
attention in the selection of raw silks be given to the low price 
and suitability of the greges than to the "running-quality" of it. 

Sinshius, for instance, are particularly in favor, not only be- 
cause they are nicer in appearance and softer, but because they 
enable the making, for instance, of a better satin at 20 to 30 cents 
(1 to m francs) less cost per kilo than with Kansais. 

Other ways of economizing are in the use of a variety of 
different raw silks for large assortments of colors in such a way 
that the particularly unfavorable characteristics of each shade 
are overcome by the use of particularly favorable qualities of 
raw silks. For example, an "even" silk is selected for navy, 



58 The Silk Association of America 

brown and the whole class of shades that show off the unevenness 
of silk more than others. Finer sized silks are taken for cardi- 
nal, cream and other so-called good shades because they are 
always better in hand than the rest. Extra bright and white silks 
are selected for pink, light blue and nile colors, for the simple 
reason of bringing out the color, luster and real silkiness the best. 
Strong but otherwise inferior silks are selected for blacks be- 
cause they are usually weighted heavier in dyeing. Soft silks are 
used for soft twists and soft goods. Hard silks have their own 
particular use. All this refers not only to the dyeing of the 
warps, but also to the filling. 

In addition to the saving of money by this scientific disposal 
of raw silks, advantage is gained in producing the goods of each 
and all shades better, nicer and more uniform in quality than if 
they were all made of the same raw silks. 

Also a favored method of economizing is the assorting of 
raw silks. The gains obtained therewith are often astonishing, 
particularly in medium-grade Japan rereels and medium grades 
of silks of all other stocks. 

Sometimes large quantities selected of Japan rereels are used, 
as filature Double Extras, with excellent results. Among good 
greges bought for tram, the better parts are often selected for 
organs, and so on. 

In throwing, the twist is also more scientifically adapted to 
the purpose for which the organs and trams are used. As a rule, 
however, a more open twist is used. Twelve turns first time and 
ten turns second is the regular organ twist. Satin and umbrella 
organs are often thrown ten and eight turns, taffetas 14/12, heavy 
linings 16/14, and yet for some exceptionally strong and hard 
organs 18/16 is used, which shows that in twist as well as in 
raw silk stocks, qualities and sizes, European manufacturers work 
with a large number of different silks, each one adapted to its 
particular purpose. Tram also has less twist, seldom more than 
1 to 1^/4 turns per inch, in order to make it fill better. 

The necessity to economize in the use of raw silks has forced 
European manufacturers for the last twenty to thirty years to 
study the results of the materials in the goods down to the 
minutest details, and with all this experience accumulated they 
have naturally become experts in the economy of raw silks. It 
is not a little due to this knowledge that many silk manufacturing 
stock companies abroad can afford to pay large half-yearly divi- 



Raw Silk Prize Essa 



ys 



dends and, in addition, increase their reserve and other funds 
yearly so much that it would make any successful manufacturers 
here look with astonishment. 

RAW SILK EXAMINATION ADAPTED TO AMERICAN SILK 
MANUFACTURING. 

Raw silk inspection in silk mills here is yet in its infancy 
and is done differently than in Europe, to suit our manufacturing 
conditions. Here the markets for manufactured goods are un- 
steady, subject to a great variety of influences unknown in 
Europe, such as political depressions, tariff tinkering, crop re- 
sults, prosperity of the iron and steel trade, financial panics and 
so on. 

Silk manufacturers must rush their orders, and to do this 
they must use silks that run well through all operations. An- 
other still greater incentive for using good running silks is the 
high cost of labor. 

American manufacturers prefer simplicity in manufacturing 
to scientific methods and use as few varieties of stocks, qualities, 
sizes and twists as possible. The principle of our economy lies 
in the reduction of the time used to make the goods, and in this 
rush sight is lost of the greater possibility to economize by the 
scientific use of raw silks. 

To take the lack of time as an excuse for manufacturers to 
eliminate raw silk inspection is, however, a mistake, because it 
requires only half a day to examine a lot thoroughly, and it is 
mostly done in advance of receipt of orders. To take the lack 
of necessity as an excuse is also a mistake, because it is only 
logical that if the application of utmost economy is profitable 
in countries where the manufacturing cost is lower, the same 
stringent economy applied here must be still more profitable. 

While the profits derived are rather larger, the principle of 
raw silk inspection is a different one. In Europe one must first 
look for suitability and low price and second for good running. 
We must give the latter first consideration and second to suita- 
bility and low price. In other words, the principle of inspection 
is shifted to giving importance to those inspection results which 
correspond with our manufacturing conditions. 

A European raw silk inspector transferred to this hemisphere 
must drop his scientific judging of raw materials and substitute 
for it simpler and more practical tests. Therefore it is easier to 



*'•* The Silk Association of America 

examine raw silks here than abroad, and just because it is so 
simple it is hard to understand that so few manufacturers have 
their silks inspected systematically. 

Importers like to see manufacturers thoroughly test their 
silks before they buy and use them, because it relieves them of 
part of their responsibility. The majority especiall} of the larger 
manufacturers undoubtedly realize also that a personal prelimi- 
nary raw silk inspection would be to their benefit, as it would 
help them to avoid great losses in running poor silks and the 
many troubles connected with it ; yet for some reasons they fail 
to make a start. These reasons could not be other than the fear 
of the cost of examination and the lack of confidence in their 
experience to accurately judge which is good or bad. 

As a rule manufacturers pin their whole confidence on the 
word of the importers' inspection instead of on their own, yet 
the same manufacturers would not buy any of the minor necessi- 
ties, amounting only to a fraction of their raw silk accounts, upon 
the word of others, but only on the results of their own investi- 
gation. 

A few of the most careful silk manufacturers, however, in- 
spect their raw silks carefully and practically four times from 
the time offered to the time the silk is in the manufactured goods. 
The first inspection is made when skeins or books are submitted 
for examination ; the second is made from the bales bought to 
see if they conform with the samples and to get a more accurate 
opinion of the entire lot; the third is made during the different 
operations of the silk, and the fourth is made in the goods. 

With careful records kept of all these results, manufacturers 
accumulate a knowledge of raw silk which enables them to buy 
new silks, either the same kind or not, as the case may be, with 
an assurance of being always on the right side, which the others 
who do not inspect their silks lack. The latter keep on groping 
in the dark, notwithstanding the unfortunate experiences they 
may have from time to time. 

Importers are great sufferers through the neglect of manu- 
facturers to make preliminary tests of their raw silks, because, 
if a lot of silk turns out to be poorer than expected, they are 
liable to lose this customer, while if tests were made in time any 
importer would be only too wiUing to offer another silk for the 
rejected one and the manufacturer would remain his customer. 
Many losses in business to importers could thus be avoided, yet 



Raw Silk Prize Essays tii 

tor every lost customer an importer usually gets a new one who 
left another importer for the same reason as his left him, which 
goes to show that he is after all not so much loser in the game as 
the manufacturer who finds it necessary to shift slowly but surely 
around the circle of importers and goes through a number of 
uni)leasant experiences which he would not have had had he 
bought tlie silk subject to his approval based on his examination 
results. 

ADVANTAGES AND COST OF RAW SILK INSPECTION. 

Why so surprisingly few American silk manufacturers there- 
fore have a systematic inspection of their raw silks is a puzzle. 
They are reminded of it every time they fail to get the quality 
or size of silk ordered, yet their interest is not sufficiently aroused 
to overcome such difficulties by a thorough raw silk inspection. 
But the systematic inspection of raw silk is something with which 
most of the manufacturers are not familiar. 

One pioneer manufacturer in particular once told the writer 
that he had bought raw silk for thirty years, and frankly admitted 
that he did not know any more about judging raw silk samples 
than he did when he started. Probably a great many, if they 
were equally frank, would have to say the same. Raw silk ex- 
amination is regarded as a mysterious art which only experts 
can master skilfully, and this is the main reason why they prefer 
to buy silk on confidence, although this confidence is so often 
shattered. Many manufacturers believe when they get a poor 
silk that such a dehvery was made on purpose. This, however, 
is not the case. Importers do not take such chances of losing a 
good customer. The truth is, however, that the results of their 
inspection in such particular instances were incorrect. This of 
course they do not care to admit, and certainly not that they were 
misrepresenting the quahty on purpose, consequently they find 
themselves not only in a perplexing but also in an embarrassing 
position. 

As stated before, silk examination for American manufactur- 
ing is, however, much easier than most manufacturers think. All 
we want to know here is if the silk is good running. Whether 
the silk takes the dye well, is suitable for certain colors, or for 
extra good luster, or for full hand, or for particularly even goods, 
is mostly not considered at all, or if it is, it is given second con- 
sideration only. 



62 The Silk Association of America 

The American manufacturer says to himself: I depend on 
the dyer to give me the proper shades. I have it steam-stretched 
(metalhc dye) to get the luster, or pass the thread through lus- 
tering machines. I burn ofif the fuzz in the goods on the singeing 
machine, and give it the touch required in finishing. Glue will 
substitute all the hand which the silk lacks. Why then take a 
poorer running silk, even if it would make better goods, when I 
can have a better running silk and use artificial means to sub- 
stitute the qualities the raw silks lack ? 

Regarding raw silk examination volumes have been written 
and experts were ordered to New York from Europe in an efifort 
to find reliable methods for ascertaining the value of greges ac- 
curately. Yet all have failed because their chemical analyses and 
other extraordinary methods in testing the silks are somewhat 
too super-scientific and complicated to be of any practical value. 
Besides, in the writer's estimation, the uneven weights to be given 
to the many different qualities which compose the total value of 
a silk, can never be gauged by a uniform rule to serve as a price 
basis for all the silks. Often inferior silks are more suitable for 
certain goods than superior qualities ; therefore, they are of 
greater value to the user than higher priced silks. The consumer 
alone can know positively what the silk is worth to him by com- 
paring his own inspection results with his requirements. 

Gold can be analyzed and priced by its weight in karats, but 
silk has a dozen different karats, figuratively speaking, and each 
karat has a different value, and these different values have again 
to be priced differently, according to their application. How 
then is it possible to state fixed values on silks for manufacturers? 

Prices must, of course, be given to silks by reelers and deal- 
ers, and if market conditions (the law of supply and demand), 
which change the prices constantly, could be eliminated these 
prices would be based on the cost of cocoons plus labor, plus 
waste, plus profit. But even under these conditions the silk pro- 
duced by two different reelers at the same cost would not be 
equivalent in value, as one might use inferior cocoons, make 
more waste (poorer rendita) and have a higher cost of spinning, 
while the other bought better cocoons at lower prices, has a 
better rendita (less waste) and spins it better at lower cost. The 
spinner's price can therefore not be accepted as the correct value 
for manufacturers. 

If the value is based on the agent's or importer's inspection, 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 63 

it is in most cases also wrong, for the simple reason that it is done 
theoretically and practically from the dealer's point of view, which 
is rarely in accordance with that of the consumer's. It might be 
different if all inspectors in the raw silk producing countries were 
experienced silk manufacturers ; then they would classify many 
silks dififerently. But even then their reports could not yet be 
accepted by all manufacturers as strictly accurate, because one 
manufacturer's requirements of certain sub-qualities of raw silk 
are not identical with those of another, and two different silks of 
the same value might be of different usefulness to different manu- 
facturers. 

The consequence of all this sums up again in the rule stated 
before, that the consumer alone can know positively what a silk 
is worth to him by comparing his own inspection results with his 
requirements. 

Reelers, dealers and inspectors make the classifications and 
prices of raw silks for the manufacturers, but it is up to the 
manufacturer to know the value of the silk for his use. Whether 
the value of the silk he bought is identical with the price he paid 
for it, or higher or lower, depends on how well he knows how 
to buy the right silk at the right price. 

Some manufacturers abroad have made more money by the 
wise selection of raw silks contracted for at the right time than 
by manufacturing. At least one instance is known where a large 
European concern pays their raw silk inspector a yearly salary 
of 50,000 francs, which is equivalent in purchasing power to 
$15,000 here. 

As a rule, however, raw silk examination, or at least the 
classification of the silk, according to the inspection results ob- 
tained by employees, is done by manufacturers themselves, and 
if the high salaries of expert examiners are eliminated the actual 
cost of raw silk inspection is very low. In fact, if more of our 
silk manufacturers here knew how little it costs, and how much 
can be saved by having a little raw silk laboratory of their own, 
many more would fall in line with those who already test their 
silks. 

To give the reader an idea of an establishing and running 
cost, I . cite the following : 

It is best to have two rooms; one for conditioning (drying 
out the silks, raw and thrown, to ascertain the percentage of mois- 
ture) and for boiling off to ascertain the pure fiber of all silks, 



64 The Silk Association of America 

raw and thrown ; the other, an extra well lighted room, for making 
all the other tests. The reason for this is simply to keep away 
from the heated conditioning oven. The instruments and ap- 
paratus needed are a conditioning oven, a ten-spindle winding 
machine, a sizing reel, half-moon scale, balance, a serimeter for 
measuring the tenacity and elasticity, a hand reel covered with 
black velvet, a skein pole, twist counter, and report cards, the 
whole investment for which amounts to about $500. 

A young man makes the conditioning and boil-ofit tests, and 
a girl the other tests. Their combined wages may amount to 
about $1,000 annually. Six hundred lots, not counting the sam- 
ples, can be examined easily within a year, which brings the cost 
of the compound tests of each lot to $1.66. There is practically 
no waste, because the silk on the bobbins can be redrawn and 
used for many purposes. The supervision of the tests is in the 
hands of the inspector who, however, needs to devote only a part 
of his time in judging the nature of the silks, summing up the 
testing results, and in classifying and disposing of the silk. The 
rest of his time can be devoted to supervising the throwing mills, 
keeping up the raw and thrown stock, in following up the raw 
silks in operation and in the manufactured goods, and in attend- 
ing to many other mill affairs. 

As many manufacturers buy over a million dollars' worth 
of raw silk, their inspection cost would therefore be less than 
one-thousandth of the cost of the same. The writer can prove 
the good investment of the cost of raw silk inspection by a great 
number of experiences observed during the many years he has 
been inspecting raw silks. 

An advantage obtained by manufacturers with their own 
throwing plants, and who have also to have silks thrown on com- 
mission, lies also in their choice to either throw the poorer run- 
ning silks themselves, and send the better lots to commission 
throwsters, or vice versa. The writer, as a rule, did the latter, 
and yet he was told by many commission throwsters that the 
silks always ran well. 

The fear of not having experience enough to judge the 
value of a silk is also soon overcome. "Comparisons" of the 
results will soon open a manufacturer's eyes and give him an 
exact opinion of the different characteristics of the silks, and 
he will soon be able to judge whether a silk is up to its classifica- 
tion or better or worse, and whether it is advisable for him to 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 65 

buy it or not. This, however, can only be attained by systematic 
examination — that is, by all the silks being always examined by 
one and the same system. The writer has for many years tried 
out one method after another until he has finally found a system 
which gives him the most satisfactory results, because it proved 
to be more reliable and efficient than any methods previously tried. 

THE SYSTEM OF RAW SILK INSPECTION. 

Silk examination results are obtained by two distinctly dif- 
ferent methods. About twenty sub-characteristics can be classified 
of every lot of raw silk. Half of these are obtained by the use 
of the instruments and apparatus, the other half solely by the 
use of the senses and the memory (experience) of the inspector. 
The latter half is the more difficult, of course, and it also over- 
balances the first half in importance, but not so much so here as 
abroad. 

To begin with the examination of a ten-bale lot. A young 
man takes twelve skeins each from three bales out of the ten. 
The first ten tests are made by the sizing girl, begun by winding 
ten skeins for twenty minutes. This time is needed to wind 
enough silk on the bobbins for reeling oft afterwards, three times 
450 meters on the sizing reel. During the winding the breaks 
are counted and marked on the report card. The length of the 
skeins, thickness, crossings and lacings are noted, also the double 
ends, if any are found, with other observations, such as hard 
gum places, long knots, etc. Then from the ten bobbins, ten 
sizing skeins are reeled ofif on the sizing reel, after which the 
guide is shifted one inch to the left and ten more sizing skeins 
of 450 meters length are reeled off, and by shifting the guide 
once more to the left the last ten skeins are reeled, so that there 
are thirty sizing skeins of 450 meters each on the reel. The 
breaks are also counted in reefing and noted. The skeins can 
then be taken ofif the reel without cutting them, but, as this takes 
too much time, it is preferable to cut them, double and knot them 
for weighing on the balance. The accuracy of the order in which 
the skeins are to be taken from this reel is quite important, and 
is as follows : Take skeins Nos. 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 and 
28 and weigh them each separately on the denier balance and add 
the result. Then follow with Nos. 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26 
and 29, which are also weighed and added, after which follow 
with the last ten skeins, 3, 6, 9, ]2, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27 and 80, 



66 The Silk Association of America 

weigh and add. In this way you have the resuhs on the card 
identically the same as if you took the first ten skeins off the reel 
as soon as made and weighed them, then reeled the second and 
third ten skeins ; but the first way is quicker and more convenient. 

The reason for keeping the first, second and third 450 meters 
of the bobbins separate is to find the variation in the size of each 
thread, which is obtained as follows : After the thirty sizing 
skeins are all weighed in three rows of ten, one below the other, 
each row added, the girl transfers them in three new rows of ten 
to the next column, B, to the right in the following manner : 
Of the 1st, 11th and 21st result the highest is put on the top row, 
the medium on the middle row, the heaviest on the bottom row. 
The next three results — that is, the 2d, 12th and 22d — are trans- 
ferred in the same way, and so are the rest, three by three until 
finished. Then each row of ten is added. The sum of the first 
is the total of the finest places (450M) of all the ten bobbins. 
The total of the second row is identical with the middle sizes of 
the ten bobbins, and the total of the third row represents the 
coarsest places of the ten bobbins in exact figures. Then the 
proportion between the finest and coarsest total is ascertained in 
per cent, by the aid of the calculation disk, and the result is the 
exact deviation in the size of the threads of the ten skeins. This 
percentage result is very important in the classification of the 
silk, because it shows accurately how evenly the threads are spun. 
But you do not only want to know the deviation in the size of 
the average threads. You also want to ascertain the variations 
between the skeins. 

For a better explanation be it said that three dififerent kinds 
of uneven silks are distinguished. The one just quoted is the 
first one (called uniformity of ends). It is caused by inex- 
perienced or careless spinning girls who spin an uneven thread 
by taking too many cocoons at one time ; at another time too few, 
or by not balancing the new and old (half-used) cocoons prop- 
erly. The second classification of unevenness (called uniformity 
of skeins) is caused by lack of proper supervision when each 
spinning girl spins an even thread. Some of them spin coarser 
and others finer, which results in coarse and fine skeins, although 
each skein may run even from beginning to end. The third 
(called uniformity of bales) may be caused by the general super- 
visor who lets one supervisor spin his silk finer or coarser in size 
than others, which results in some bales having a coarser average 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 67 

than others, yet the skeins in each may be spun evenly. It can 
also happen when spinners spinning the same silk for weeks and 
months gradually drift into a coarser size, so that later deHveries 
of the same silk show a coarser average. A silk, of course, can 
have not only one or the other of these three different kinds of un- 
evenness, but also a combination of any two or even all the three. 

To ascertain the second unevenness, the three rows of ten 
sizings each are once more transferred to three new rows on the 
next column "C," by taking the very lightest of all the thirty 
weights first, then the second lightest and so on until the last and 
heaviest is put at the bottom of the third row. Then the totals 
of each row of ten are again added and the proportion of the 
first sum to the third is figured out in percentage on the calcu- 
lating disk, which is, of course, larger than in unevenness, No. 
1, and indicates the absolute deviation in the size of the skeins 
in one bale, and is therefore called uniformity of skeins, which 
is also a very important result for its classification. However, 
the results of unevenness No. 1 and No. 2 of one bale alone are 
not a sufficient representation of the unevenness of a lot of ten 
bales. Therefore, two more bales are sized in the same manner 
and the average results of all three are taken as the proper indica- 
tion of the deviations. 

Let it be said here also that the comparison of the finest 
with the coarsest sizings of a bale, which is so often done, gives 
no fair deviation result, as there might accidentally be an extra 
fine size or an extra coarse one, while the rest of twenty-eight 
skeins run unevenly. The only fair result can be obtained by 
comparing the finest "third" part with the coarsest "third" part, 
as just explained. 

Now we come to the unevenness. No. 3. The total of the 
three rows of each bale are added and the sum divided by thirty, 
which result is the average size in deniers of each bale. Of these 
three-bale averages the finest is compared with the coarsest and 
the difference in percentage obtained on the calculator. This per- 
centage represents the variation or deviation in the average size 
of the bales, called uniformity of bales. 

Naturally, in operation through the different processes in the 
throwing mills, the silks of these coarse and fine bales are bound 
to get mixed. The consequence is that, no matter how evenly 
each bale may be spun, the goods made of silk of such bales will 
be streaky. Therefore, the result of unevenness. No. 3, or the 



68 The Silk Association of America 

uniformity (of the sizes) of the bales, is no less important than 
those of No. 2 and No. 1 — i. e., uniformity of skeins, respectively 
ends. 

Out of the 90 sizings in the three rows, "C," the deviation 
in percentage between the 10 finest and the 10 coarsest sizings 
is obtained, which is the extreme unevenness of the entire lot or 
the absolute uniformity. This is the unevenness. No. 4. It is not 
a fourth or additional kind of unevenness with a separate cause 
of its own in spinning; but simply the result of both, careless- 
ness combined which cause unevenness No. 2 and 3'; in other 
words, it is the extreme deviation in the size of the, skeins of 
all the three bales. The most extreme deviation is, of course, 
the one between the finest and coarsest sizing of alli,the 90 tests, 
but as an indication of the unevenness of the entire lot it is less 
true than the other. 

The following is a step further in the use of these results. 
Tables are made based on the results of many lots tested, where- 
with the percentages are transferred into degrees, 100 being the 
most even and 50 the most uneven. The reason for doing this is 
because it is the simplest and most practical method to know at 
a glance (even by those who don't know much about raw silk 
examination results) the exact evenness of a silk. This system 
the writer borrowed from school certificates and found it to be 
the clearest and shortest of all methods. 

The deviation results might, for instance, read : 

No. 1 Average variation in the size of threads (Uniformity of ends) 88 

No. 3 Average variation in the size of skeins (Uniformity of skeins) 85 

No. 3 Average variation in the size of bales (Uniformity of bales).. 79 

No. 4 Extreme variation in the size of skeins (Absolute Uniformity) 78 

Next comes the accuracy of the titre. The average size of 
all the three bales is compared with the size the silk is supposed 
to be, and the difference between the two in percentages, also 
obtained by the use of the calculating disk, gives the accuracy of 
the titre, which is also transferred into degrees. A 14/16 fine, 
for instance, should average 14.75 ds. ; but the silk averages 14,30 
ds., which is a deviation of 3 per cent. ; transformed into degrees, 
it is 70. 

The next test made by the girl is the measuring of the tenacity 
and elasticity on the serimeter. One such is made of each bob- 
bin. These tests had better be made directly from the skeins in- 
stead of from the bobbins, because through winding and reeling 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 69 

part of the tenacity and elasticity is taken out of the threads. But 
if all the silks are treated alike and the results are not quoted as 
given by the instrument, but transformed into degrees with the 
help of tables, which are based on the results obtained from bob- 
bins (and not from skeins) then the results are as uniformly 
reliable as if they were made directly from skeins. All the bob- 
bins should be placed for a definite length of time in a humidi- 
fying tin case before tests are made to insure uniform moisture 
of the silk. 

In ascertaining the tenacity and elasticity, the writer also has 
a method of his own, which has worked satisfactorily ever since 
he innovated it. While the average tenacity and elasticity is taken 
into consideration for classification and for the sake of compari- 
son with those given by dealers, more weight is put on the "mini- 
mum results" for the reason that a silk is only as strong and 
elastic as its minimum strength and elasticity, the same as a chain 
is only as strong as its weakest link. The average results, there- 
fore, do not give an accurate representation of the strength of a 
silk. Here, as well as in the unevenness, the writer does, how- 
ever, not believe in taking the extremest low results as fair, but 
picks out from the thirty results the ten lowest ones, and whatever 
the weakest third part out of the whole number of tests is he 
takes as the real strength of the silk, and the same method is 
applied to the elasticity. The statement was omitted before that 
the breaks in winding and reeling are, of course, also transferred 
from tables into degrees. 

The first half of twenty classification results are herewith 
concluded, and the report card might read as follows : 

1 Winding 90 6 Minimum elasticity 7S 

2 Reeling 80 7 Uniformity of bales 84 

3 Average tenacity 76 8 Uniformity of skeins.... 82 

4 Minimum tenacity 70 9 Uniformity of ends 78 

5 Average elasticity 80 10 Absolute uniformity 88 

Accuracy of titre, 92. 

The last four results are reported in a reversed order from 
the previous description. The accuracy of titre, not being exactly 
a characteristic which bears directly on the quality of a silk, is 
not included in the 10 reports, but is always given separately as 
an extra item by itself. The writer considers such an examina- 
tion report the fairest that can be made, but wishes to give warn- 
ing, however, not to sum up all these results in the belief thai 
the total will be an exact indication of the value or classification 



■^0 The Silk Association of America 

of a silk. This would be correct only if every number would 
represent exactly one-tenth of the total value of a silk, which, of 
course, is not the case. The writer has after ten years' efforts 
found a simple way to obtain the number in percentage of a silk, 
which he now has in use, and which proves to correspond closer 
to the value of a silk than any other method tried before. It 
will be explained later. 

The best and shortest modification or condensation of the ten 
results into three is made as follows : 

1 Winding 90 

2 Reeling 80 

170 : 2 — Operation 85 

3 Average tenacity 76 

4 Minimum tenacity 70 

5 Average elasticity 78 

6 Minimum elasticity 78 

304 : 4 = Serimeter 76 

7 Uniformity in size of bales 84 

8 Uniformity in size of skeins 82 

9 Uniformity in size of ends 78 

10 Absolute Uniformity 88 

332 : 4 = Evenness 83 

These three numbers, 85, 76 and 83, are about the shortest 
possible accurate and fair expression for a silk classification, but 
are lacking- in details, and give rise to questions which cannot be 
answered without the help of the whole ten results on previous 
report. Therefore, it is best to make both and to use the con- 
densed report of three numbers only for superficial comparisons 
of one silk with a number of others, but for the final decision it 
is necessary to resort to the full report with all the ten numbers. 
While these first ten inspection results are made by the girl, 
the next ten are made by the inspector himself and are begun 
with the inspection of the nature of the silk. The color, which 
is the first characteristic to be classified, must not always be 
judged by its beauty, as it is well known that some Kansai fila- 
ture. Double Extras for instance, and particularly some of the 
best Koshiu filatures, are by no means as nice in appearance as, 
for example, some Sinshiu filatures No. IV2. The fact is that 
shades are misleading characteristics of raw silks unless judged 
by one with experience. 

In Itahan silks, for instance, dark greenish skeins exposed 
to the sunlight change to pale yellow. The color of a silk is caused 



Raw Silk Prize Essays '^i 

by many different influences, first, of course, by the worms, then 
by the mulberry leaves, the climate, the soil and the water in 
which the cocoons are spun. There are also artificial means to 
improve the color of a silk, such as by putting certain ingredients 
into the hot water of the basins in spinning. The soundness 
(healthiness) of the color, whether hght or dark, is more to be 
considered than the beauty, and a particularly true sign of a good 
silk is its uniformity (evenness) in color. 

The luster as a second characteristic is also an important 
factor. The luster in itself is, however, not the real value, but 
the smoothness of the silk which is indicated by the luster. All 
bright silks are smooth, but not all smooth silks are bright, 
because the color is sometimes unfavorably dark for the luster 
to be noticed as well as if it were clear and white. Therefore, 
the smoothness is better taken as a separate (3d) characteristic 
of a silk. 

There is a scientific apparatus in existence to measure the 
luster (reflection of light), but its use consumes too much time 
and causes too many complications to be applicable in every-day 
practice. The luster should never be judged in folded skeins, 
but the skeins should be opened and held tight over the wrist or 
the hand. Beginners do Avell in always taking two, or, better, 
three, different silks at the same time, for comparison. The 
whole success in mastering the judgment of these and other char- 
acteristics of silks lies in comparisons. A beginner must "see" 
the comparisons to form an opinion, while one whose memory 
is trained "remembers" the appearances of certain silks with 
which he mentally compares the sample. 

The smoothness is naturally in the touch, and is also best 
distinguished by comparisons. The touch is a collective name 
for a number of sub-characteristics observed in "feeling" the 
silk among which, aside from the smoothness (often also called 
real silkiness), is the hand, or, better, fullness of the hand, which 
depends on nothing else but on the weight of gravity (specific 
weight) of the silk, and therefore may also be called voluminous. 

A voluminous silk may be compared with a compact one, for 
instance, as pine wood with hardwood. In silks, however, the 
lighter thread gives a better hand than the heavier after being 
dyed in skeins or in the piece; but particularly in the first, be- 
cause it not only absorbs the dye better, but also the (preliminary) 
weighting. 



'?3 The Silk Association of America 

The specifically lightest silks are Cantons ; therefore, the 
good hand of these greges. The heaviest are the China steam 
filatures, the compact threads of which do not absorb the weight- 
ing and dyestufifs as well, but they come out purer and brighter 
in color. 

In Japan silks there is a great variety in the fullness of silks 
to be found almost touching these two extremes. 

European silks are all good fillers in the raw and thrown. 

Another sub-characteristic of the touch is the hardness (or 
softness). Hard-natured silks, whether smooth or rough, volumi- 
nous or compact, are firm in touch, or at least not flabby, while 
soft-natured silks are flabby. Soft-natured silks should, how- 
ever, not be underestimated, because in many cases they are even 
preferable to hard-natured greges, notwithstanding their lower 
prices. Many soft-natured silks are used nowadays as hard- 
natured ones, without it being noticed. 

The fourth and last of the touch sub-characteristics is the 
nerve which, like the first three touches, is easier to feel than 
to explain. It might best be compared with muscles than with 
anything else. I found that the best way to understand efifects 
is always to learn the causes, which are then taken as a guide, 
for the explanation of all testing results. The nerve is partly 
or sometimes caused by the fiber, partly or sometimes by the 
gum, and partly or sometimes by the twist in spinning. It is 
affiliated preferably with the latter. Nerve as it is understood 
in silks could be defined as an elastic resistance. Spinner boys 
prefer to call it life, because identical with good nerve is the 
so-called snapping of the silk in breaking, indicating life, while 
silk which has no nerve pulls apart like spun silk (schappe), 
which has no life. The writer would, therefore, in addition to 
feeling the nerve, advise learners to break a number of ends to 
fully convince themselves whether the silk has life (nerve) or 
not, and to mark the results in degrees accordingly. There are 
several other methods of detecting the twist in raw silks ; but they 
are mostly unreliable (stripping threads repeatedly between the 
respective fingernails of two fingers, using the twist counter, 
boiling off and separating cocoon ends, etc.). There are many 
other expressions used describing the touch of a silk; but they 
belong to either one or the other of the foregoing sub-charac- 
teristics. 

The next three characteristics are obtained by the aid of 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 73 

so-called mirrors, which is the handreel covered with black velvet 
on which a thread from a bobbin is wound in such a way that the 
thread begins on the left side and is reeled slowly to the right, so 
that the ends lie closely parallel to each other. Two mirrors are 
usually made of each bale, making six to a ten-bale lot, in special 
cases more. The observations are given directly in degrees, as 
follows : 

FusziiiL'ss. Cleanness. Evenness. 

Bale A 1 80 85 90 

2 80 90 95 

Bale B 1 80 90 95 

2 85 85 90 

Bale C 1 80 90 90 

2 85 85 100 

490 535 560 

Here also the minimum results are regarded as the proper 
indicators and not the average. The lowest third part or the 
average of the two lowest degrees are better for the proper 
classification. In the above example it would be : Fuzziness, 80 ; 
cleanness, 85 ; evenness, 90. The fuzziness is plainly visible ex- 
cept when it is closely attached to the thread by gum and opens 
afterwards in the boiling off or in dyeing. Some fuzz appears 
in the form of little loops the same as thrown silk when un- 
evenly doubled. 

Cleanliness or uncleanliness includes everything from nibs 
to the largest floats ; also spinning defects such as rough ends, 
corkscrew ends, etc. 

The evenness here is different again from the one explained 
before, because it is mostly the fine and coarse ends which are 
too short to be noticed in the sizings that are seen on the mirrors. 
Mirrors are the severest tests for raw silk, because no other in- 
strument reveals the defects so plainly, and beginners usually 
make the mistake of forming too low an opinion of the results, 
not knowing that silk is a fiber which it is impossible to spin 
absolutely perfect. Therefore, one must not be inclined to under- 
estimate a silk when the mirrors are below expectations. Mirrors 
are very interesting to judge, and a careful observer will always 
detect new surprises which increase his knowledge of raw silk. 

The last or twentieth result to be noted is the make-up of 
the skeins, which includes the length and thickness of the skeins, 
the crossing, whether straight or diamond (sometimes running 
in rings), the lacings, gums, etc. If the skeins are standard and 



74 The Silk Association of America 

uniform they are given degree No. 100, if not the percentage is 
lowered in proportion as the inferiority might affect the winding. 
The report of the second half part of examination results 
might read as follows : 

Color (soundness and uniformity of color) 85 

Luster (and uniformity of luster) 85 

Smoothness 85 

Filling (volume, weight of gravity) 90 

Hardness (or softness) 90 

Nerve (Life) 100 

Fuzziness (hairiness — loops) 95 

Cleanness ( spinning defects) 80 

Evenness (fine or coarse places) 75 

Make-up of skeins 100 

The same said about summing up the total of the first half 
part (10) examination results, counts also for these ten. It 
should not be done. Instead a similar modification or condensa- 
tion of the results can be made as follows : 

1 Color 85 

2 Luster 85 

3 Smoothness 85 

4 Filling 90 

5 Hardness 90 

6 Nerve 100 

535 : 6 = Nature 89 



7 Fuzziness 95 

8 Cleanness 80 

175 : 2 — Cleanness 87 

9 Evenness 75 

= Evenness - 75 

10. The make-up of skeins is practically included in the 
winding (operation) of the first report, and can be excluded from 
this scale of values. Here, as well as in the first condensed re- 
port, the condition of a silk is given in a too limited manner to 
be of much value except for superficial comparisons. It is much 
better to rely on the full twenty results, which, if properly under- 
stood, describes a silk so clearly in numbers that one who has 
never seen the lot can safely dispose of it to the best advantage 
as well as if he had inspected it himself. If an inspection report 
does not do this it has failed in its purpose. 

The variety of testing results could be increased to thirty in 
number, but the writer does not believe in going into such hair- 
splitting details which only tend to distract one's attention from 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 75 

the more important results. In exceptional cases, of course, their 
application might be warranted when an unusually great amount 
is at stake, or in order to decide disputes ; but for practical daily 
use the twenty results fully suffice. 

Our conditioning and boiling-off results are also not included 
in the report, because they are less a part of the quality of a silk 
than of its price. It makes quite a difference in the cost of piece- 
dyed goods whether the warp boils off only 18 per cent, instead of 
24 and the filling 16 instead of 20 per cent. On one of the fol- 
lowing pages is given a copy of a full report card with all the 
details as an example. It will be noticed that the weight of the 
sizings is given in quarter deniers, while the conditioning houses 
and other establishments weigh full and half deniers only. Quar- 
ter denier balances are made specially to order. 

A European silk expert who came here after having visited 
Japan and China said recently that of all conditioning and in- 
spection establishments he had visited he had not seen any which 
made such systematic and full reports as have just been de- 
scribed. He said, "Where others stop inspection you begin." Of 
course, this gentleman did not take into consideration that the 
conditioning houses' principal work is to ascertain the condition 
of the silk as regards to the various weights and in rare cases 
are required to measure the tenacity and elasticity, while on the 
examination reports described here eighteen more results are 
added. The gentleman, therefore, may have been right in his ex- 
pression ; but was wrong in the comparison. 

CONDITIONING AND BOILING-OFF. 

The writer refrains from explaining conditioning and boil- 
ing-ofif, which have been described by conditioning houses and 
are well known. An example of a clearance is given, however, 
because much has been written during the last few years about 
ascertaining the correct weight returned by throwsters, but none 
that covers the ground sufficiently to obtain the accurate results. 

If a net clearance does not consider or include in its calcu- 
lation the conditioning as well as the boiling-off, the moisture 
as well as the substances, other than pure fiber in the grege, before 
it was thrown and again in the thrown silk, such a calculation 
is not an accurate net clearance. The one given here is based 
on the following 4-testing results : .. 



■^6 The Silk Association of America 

Raw. Thrown. 

Moisture 11+2% of absolute weight 13.50% of soaked weight. 

Boil-off 18. — % of absolute weight ..20 — % of dry weight. 

Net Clearance of Two-Thread Organ Lot 6666. — 13/15 Japan 
Filature Extra Mazvamuro. 

1 Conditioned weight "due" (Conditioned to throwing) 2600.00 

.\pparent loss (Difference between conditioned due and soak 

received), 2% of conditioned weight due (2.04% of soaked 
weight) —52.00 

2 Received "soaked" (Soaked weight from throwing) 2548.00 

Moisture thrown (Oil and water in thrown silk), 13.50% of 

soaked weight (15.61% of dry weight) , . —343.98 

3 Received "dry" (Soaked weight less moisture) 2204.02 

Boil-off thrown (Soap, gum, etc., in thrown silk), 20% of dry 

weight (25% of fiber weight) '. — 440.80 

4 Received "fiber" (Soaked weight less moisture and boil-off... 1763.22 
Boil-off raAv (Gum, etc., in grege), 21.95% of fiber weight (18% 

of absolute weight) +387.03 

5 Received "absolute" (Fiber plus grege boil-off %) 2150.2.'") 

Moisture raw (Established allowances for moisture, 13.22% of 

absolute weight (11.67% of conditioned weight) (11+2) . . . +284.26 

() Received "conditioned" (Conditioned from throwing) 2434.51 

Net loss (Difference between conditioned weight delivered 
and received), 6.79% conditioned weight received, 6.36% 
conditioned weight due +165.49 

2500.00 
In comparing the percentages lost, thrown and raw, care 
must be given to taking the correct figures. In the example cited 
the moisture between thrown and raw is the difference between 
16.61 and 13.22 per cent., which is 3.39 per cent., and the boiling- 
off between thrown and raw is the difference between 20 and 1 8 
per cent., which is 2 per cent. 

OPERATION REPORTS. 

Operation reports are particularly valuable. But while ex- 
amination reports are made for the purpose of knowing how to 
dispose of the silks inspected, the operation reports are made as 
a confirmation of the examination, and for the purpose of using 
them as a guide for future purchases. A comparison of the 
operation reports with the examination reports helps one .much 
toward becoming more perfect in judgment of the latter. Both 
should, therefore, be made by the inspector. 

While in examination the silks are run only for twenty min- 
utes, in operation the silks are run for days and weeks, and these 
running reports are, of course, most reliable, but the soaking, 
the weather conditions, the experience of the operator, must all 
be taken into consideration to make the report reliable. The silk 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 
REPORT CARD NO. 8001. 



ut 14/16 Japan Fi 
May. 28, 1914. 



1, Kawamura Cherry Blossom Chop, Lot 8888, 
Manufacturers' Raw Silk Tmoorting Co. 



BALE NO. 55550 


BALE NO. 55555 


BALE NO. 55559 


From 


Uniformity of 


From 


Uniformity of 


From 


Uniformity of 


Reel 


Ends 


Skeins 


Reel 


Ends 


Skeins 


Reel 


Ends 


Skeins 


A 


B 


C 


A 


B 


C 


A 


B 


C 


1 15.26 


11 14.00 


9 12.75 


1 13.00 


21 12.75 


16 13.50 


1 16.35 


1 16.35 


10 13.00 


2 14.35 


13 14.00 


19 13.00 


3 15.00 


12 13.75 


31 12.75 


2 14.00 


23 13.25 


18 13.50 


:i 15.00 


13 14.50 


38 13.50 


3 13.75 


33 13.00 


1 13.00 


3 1 4 00 


33 13.00 


33 13.00 


4 13.75 


4 13.75 


4 13.75 


4 14.50 


4 14.50 


23 13.00 


4 13.50 


4 13.50 


17 13.35 


5 13.75 


5 13.75 


5 13.75 


5 14.25 


5 14.35 


39 13.00 


5 15.35 


15 14.50 


23 13.35 


.6 15.35 


26 15.00 


8 14.00 


6 13.50 


16 13.50 


19 13.35 


15.50 


6 15.50 


4 13.50 


7 15.00 


27 14.50 


11 14.00 


7 15.00 


7 15.00 


6 13.50 


7 13.75 


17 13.35 


13 13.50 


8 14.00 


28 13.50 


13 14.00 


8 15.00 


38 14.75 


3 13.75 


8 14.00 


18 13.50 


20 13.50 


9 12.75 


8 12.75 


3 14.35 


9 15.35 


39 13.00 


10 13.75 


9 15.25 


39 14.50 


37 13.50 


10 14.50 


10 14.50 


10 14.50 


10 13.75 


10 13.75 


12 13.75 


10 13.00 


10 13.00 


7 13.75 


Total 143.50 


140.25 


137.50 


143.00 


137.35 


132.35 


143.50 


138.35 


131.75 


1 I 14.00 


31 16.75 


13 14.50 


11 14.00 


1 13.00 


11 14.00 


11 16.35 


11 16.35 


3 14.00 


12 14.00 


3 14.25 


15 14.50 


12 13.75 


3 15.00 


13 14.35 


13 15.00 


3 14.00 


3 14.00 


13 14.50 


3 15.00 


37 14.50 


13 14.35 


3 13.75 


5 14.35 


13 13.50 


13 13.50 


8 14.00 


14 16.25 


24 16.00 


3 15.00 


14 15.35 


24 14.50 


13 14.35 


14 14.50 


34 14.35 


38 14.00 


i:. 14.50 


15 14.50 


7 15.00 


15 15.75 


25 14.75 


4 14.50 


15 14.50 


5 15.35 


24 14.25 


16 15.75 


6 15.25 


26 15.00 


16 13.50 


6 13.50 


24 14.50 


16 17.50 


26 16.00 


14 14.50 


17 15.25 


7 15.00 


1 15.35 


17 15.75 


17 15.75 


25 14.75 


17 13.25 


37 13.50 


15 14.50 


18 17.50 


8 14.00 


6 15.25 


18 15.50 


8 15.00 


28 14.75 


18 13.50 


8 14.00 


29 14.50 


19 13.00 


19 13.00 


17 15.25 


19 13.25 


19 13.25 


30 14.75 


19 15.75 


9 15.25 


30 14.50 


30 16.35 


30 16.00 


33 15.25 


20 14.25 


20 14.25 


3 15.00 


20 13.50 


20 13.50 


12 15.00 


Total 151.00 


149.75 


149.50 


144.25 


143.75 


145.00 


146.25 


145.50 


143.25 


21 16.75 


1 15.25 


29 15.50 


31 13.75 


11 14.00 


7 15.00 


21 16.35 


31 16.35 


5 15.25 


23 16.00 


33 16.00 


16 15.75 


33 16.00 


33 16.00 


8 15.00 


23 13.25 


13 15.00 


9 15.35 


33 15.35 


23 15.25 


23 16.00 


33 13.00 


13 14.35 


36 15.00 


23 13.00 


3 14.00 


6 15.50 


34 16.00 


14 16.25 


24 16.00 


34 14.50 


14 15.35 


9 15.25 


34 14.25 


14 14.50 


19 15.75 


35 16.35 


25 16.25 


30 16.00 


35 14.75 


15 15.75 


14 15.25 


25 16.25 


25 16.35 


36 16.00 


36 15.00 


16 15.75 


14 16.35 


36 15.00 


36 15.00 


18 15.50 


26 16.00 


16 17.50 


1 16.35 


27 14.50 


17 15.35 


20 16.25 


27 15.75 


37 15.75 


15 15.75 


37 13.50 


7 13.75 


11 16.35 


38 13.50 


18 17.50 


25 16.35 


38 14.75 


18 15.50 


17 15.75 


38 14.00 


38 14.00 


31 16.25 


39 15.50 


39 15.50 


31 10.75 


39 13.00 


9 15.35 


27 15.75 


29 14.50 


19 15.75 


35 16.35' 


30 16.00 


30 16.35 


18 17.50 


30 14.75 


30 14.75 


22 16.00 


30 14.50 


30 14.50 


16 17.50 


Total 154.75 


159.35 


163.35 


144.25 


151.50 


154.35 


145.50 


151.50 


160.25 


449.35 


449.25 


449.35 


431.50 


431.50 


431.50 


43"r25 


43.5.35 


435.35 


.Vv'ge 14.97 






14.38 






14.51 






Variation, % 


13.50 


18. 




10.38 


16.63 




9.58 


21.63 



Tenacity in 


Grammes of 


Elasticity in 


% of 


Bales. 




Mirrors. 
Fuzzi- Clean- 


Even- 
















Bales. 


ness. 


ness. 


ness. 


55550 


55555 


55559 


Min. 


55550 


55555 


55559 


Min. 


55550 


90 


85 


90 


60 


85 


60 


45 


17 


17 


*15 


14 




85 


90 


85 


65 


*50 


60 


45 


*14 


IS 


16 


14 


55555 


90 


85 


80 


*55 


65 


65 


60 


17 


*15 


30 


14 




85 


90 


90 


70 


*45 


55 


50 


*16 


18 


*14 


15 


55559 


90 


90 


85 


65 


*55 


60 


50 


*15 


*14 


18 


15 




85 


85 


85 


*50 


*50 


55 


50 


21 


*16 


*15 


15 










65 


60 


55 


50 


*16 


19 


18 


15 










*55 


55 


*50 


55 


19 


16 


19 


16 


Make-up of skeins 




•55 


*50 


55 


55 


30 


30 


18 


16 






60 


*45 


65 


55 


19 


17 


20 


16 


ing 


100 






























Tot. 600 


560 


580 


505 


174 


170 


173 


1.50 










Av. 60 


56 


58 


50.5 


17,4 


17 


17.3 


15 











78 



The Silk Association of America 















SUMMARY 










Full Report. Coiid. Rep. 
A. 

1 Winding 92 Operation 

2 Reeling 98 190:2;9.j 

3 Av. Tenac'y 88 

4 Min. " 86 

5 Av. Elast'y 94 Serimeter 

6 Min. " 92 360:4:90 

7 Bale Unify 78 

8 Skein " 82 

9 End " 84 Evenness 
10 Absolute " 80 324:4:81 




pq 

C 

■-a 

d 


1 




i 
o 

d 
H 
d 


W 

<< 


s 


'E 
Q 
> 
< 




;p 


il 


II 


1 

<; 


Rep't 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 




21 


7 


3 


9 


10 


B. 

11 Color 90 

12 Luster 90 


55550 
55555 
55559 


2 
1 
3 


1 


60 

56 
58 


50.5 


17.4 

17. 

17.3 




14.97 
14.38 
14.51 


14.62 
15. 


14.38 
14.97 


18. 

16.63 

21.63 


13.50 
10.38 
9.58 


13.175 
16.235 


13 Smoothness 95 

14 Filling 85 

15 Hardness 85 Nature 

16 Nerve 80 525:6:87.5 

17 Fuzziness 85 Cleanness 

18 Cleanness 85 170:2:85 

19 Evenness 85 Ev'ness 85 

20 Makeup of 

skeins 100 
Remarks: 31 


Total 
Av'ge 


I 


1 
.3 


174 
58 


51.7 
17.2 


15. 


43.86 
14.62 


2.6% 


4.1% 


56.26 

18.75 


33.45 
11.15 


23.1 


Res'ts 


92 


98 


88 


86 


94 


92 




74 


78 


83 


s. 


80 


Accuracy of titre, 74 
Average Ds: 14.63 
A Good No. 1 Silk 



Author's Note — Since this report form was introduced, which is especially ad,apted to the use 
of experienced examiners, as is shown by the fact that the second ten characteristics are directly, 
judged in percentage without lengthy descriptions, a new one is given in my address to the First 
National SiUc Convention, and is published in the November, 1915, American Silk Journal, 
which is more detailed and therefore better adapted to everybody's use. 

The new report form is a suggestion for a standard classification of Tb.w silks, and to make 
it more suitable for this purpose, some changes were made in the methods of calculating the 
uniformity results and additional methods were included. A few other improvements have also 
been added to it. 



is carefully watched in winding, doubling and spinning and classi- 
fied according to the number of breaks, from 100 to 50 in each 
case. In doubling where the ends can be watched the best, the 
evenness and cleanness is classified also. 

In organs the second time spinning is not reported because, 
after even a poor running silk has been wound, doubled and re- 
ceived the first-time twist, it usually runs well in second-time 
spinning; if not, the poor running has already been shown and 
was reported in previous operations. Thus one gets the same 
operation report for both organ and tram, which is better. The 
writer does not believe in making things more complicated than 
necessary ; on the contrary, he is a strong adherent to simplicity. 
The following is an example of such an operation report : Wind- 
ing, 95 ; doubling, 85 ; spinning, 90 ; evenness, 85 ; cleanness, 100. 
In addition to these, it is advisable to have also operation reports 
of the "warping" where the raw silk, throwing and dyeing defects 
can be observed particularly well. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 79 

INSPECTION OF RAW SILK IN THE GOODS. 

If the goods are perfect this inspection is, of course, easy to 
make, but if they are not it requires experience to do it. It must 
be considered in inspecting a skein-dyed piece from the loom 
that the raw silk has been thrown, dyed, warped and woven. It 
is necessary, therefore, to know whether a certain defect was not 
caused by any of these processes, before it is blamed on the raw 
silk. 

A raw silk inspector has, of course, no time to examine all 
or half, even a fourth of the pieces coming from the looms of a 
large mill. The piece inspector only lays those pieces aside which 
show defects traceable to the raw silk and to throwing, which are 
reinspected by the raw silk examiner, and if the complaints are 
found to be correct they are marked on the report card not in 
degrees but in words. 

Thus an inspector gets a history of every filature used from 
A to Z, which can be consulted at the time new purchases are 
made. Needless to say, those filatures with good reports are 
given preference, which should have the result that over 90 per 
cent, of the silks bought should be good for the prices paid for 
them, and the percentage can even be increased by following the 
right course strictly all the time. The piece inspection results 
also serve as a guide for the further disposal of such raw or 
thrown silks, i. e., they show for which quality of goods they 
should be used and for which they are unfit. By following these 
experiences heavy losses and trouble are often avoided. 

EXAMINATION OF SAMPLE SKEINS. 

What has not yet been explained is the examination of sample 
skeins, done as nearly as possible as in the case of entire lots. 
For this reason when but one or two skeins are submitted, as 
usual, of Italian silks, they should not be accepted. Three skeins 
are the minimum one should care to inspect. It is preferable 
to have at least five. Then wind five bobbins from the top of 
the skein, turn it and wind five more bobbins, twenty minutes 
each, from the bottom. 

The uniformity of bales, which cannot be ascertained from 
samples, is substituted, by reporting spinning conditions (spinning 
defects, such as rough ends, double ends, corkscrew ends, long 
knots, etc., etc.), which in entire lots are simply included in clean- 
ness. This is done only to have the full total of twenty te^ts in 
the records. 



^*^ The Silk Association of America 

ORIGINAL VERSUS PRIVATE CHOPS. 

To openly discuss this old and burning question is treading 
on dangerous ground. Certainly it is not advisable for those 
aspiring for prizes, particularly not when they take the manu- 
facturer's standpoint favoring original chops and the prizes are 
donated and awarded by those interested in private chops. 

The reason I fearlessly state my opinion, obtained by twenty 
years' experience, is simply because I put the interests I defend 
above any eventual remuneration for the writing of this article 
in conformity with the preface, that I will feel amply rewarded 
if the contents may help make manufacturers' interests better 
known. 

To argue with importers about private chops is like holding 
one's hands in the fire, but why should a manufacturer argue 
at all? There is no need for it. He is the buyer and therefore 
the master of the situation, and if all would buy only original 
chops from those who are willing to sell them and let the private 
chops entirely alone, no further arguments need arise. 

Let me put the searchlights on the private chop question from 
the manufacturer's as well as from the importer's side; Having 
for some time been on the selling end myself and sold private 
chops, I think I am in a position to view it from both angles. 

To importers the use of private chops has, of course, numer- 
ous advantages. There is simplicity in the classification of their 
silks by the collection of hundreds of different Japanese filatures 
into a few private chops with EngHsh names and the name of 
the dealer printed on it. The latter also stamps the importer's 
ownership on the silk and as such acts as an advertisement. But 
all this could be accomplished just as well if their private chops 
were only small round gum-labels about one and one-half inches 
in diameter, colored differently for each classification and pasted 
on the large original chops of the books without covering their 
identity. All manufacturers would, in this case, favor private 
chops instead of condemning them. 

The only reason manufacturers condemn private chops as 
they are used to-day is because they hide the identity of the 
original chop, grading, reeler and price. They say that the sale 
of a private chop is the sale of a cat in a bag, while that of an 
original chop is the cat out of the nest with the pedigree of the 
parents back of it. 

In the writer's estimation, robbing the reeler of the benefits 



Raw Silk Prize Essays si 

of his chop-ticket, which is his trademark, and substituting an- 
other party's trademark under which the goods are sold to the 
consumer, is an act that should be punishable under Japanese 
laws, because it is little short of misrepresentation, to use a mild 
expression. Those silk manufacturers who sell goods under copy- 
righted trade names will understand this best, and sympathize 
with the reelers who seem to be helpless to defend their own 
interests. 

Original chops with small private chop labels would be 
O. K., as one could buy original chops with the importer's inspec- 
tion certificate (private chop label) added to it, while another can 
buy private chops and still know the original identity and the 
importers can have their own way in holding to their private 
chops. Therefore, this innovation really ought to suit all parties 
concerned. Yet it is doubtful if private chop dealers will be 
favorably impressed by this suggestion. Like the pure food law, 
this new sort of labeling of raw silk is making the original con- 
tents known, while private chops, Hke the old style food labels, 
only tell the particular names given to the goods by the dis- 
tributors. 

Buying private chops is simply leaving the matter of inspec- 
tion, selection, purchase and delivery all to the importer, and the 
manufacturer has nothing to do but to say the word and pay the 
bill. Buying in such a way can be done by $8-a-week clerks, as 
no knowledge of raw silks is required and the extra profits in the 
wise selection of original chops is left to the importer instead 
of the manufacturer. 

Another reason for manufacturers condemning private chops 
is the mixing up of a number of original chops into one private 
chop without knowing the identity of the original chops, because 
these different natured silks take the dye differently and cause 
streaky goods, no matter how evenly in size the silk may be 
spun. Who would not object to .importers of Italian silks selling 
the product of several filatures together under one lot as one 
kind of silk ? Yet this is the very thing done with Japanese pri- 
vate chops. It seems importers cannot be made to understand 
that the mixing of several different kinds of silks of original 
chops together into one private chop deteriorates the quality of 
the whole lot to a lower grade for manufacturers. The dumping 
of many original chops into one private chop proves the writer's 
assertion that importers do their inspection and classification from 



83 The Silk Association of America 

the seller's point of view, which in rare cases corresponds with 
the manufacturer's. No doubt they do their best, but their best 
is not good enough for manufacturers. 

The next strong reason is that it makes the manufacturers' 
raw silk inspection invalid, for what good would it do to keep 
records of private chops if the next delivery of the same chop 
is of an entirely different silk, and the one following different 
again from both the first and so on ad infinitum? Private chops 
simply keep manufacturers blindfolded. 

Another reason is that original chops are subjected to com- 
petition because they are sold in the open market by numerous 
dealers while private chops are private property and classifica- 
tions and sold only by their respective owners with competition 
eliminated for their particular chops. 

Another reason is that in buying private chops manufacturers 
are expected to rely wholly on the importer's inspections. With- 
out criticising these in any way, I wish to state, however, that 
within this month of May I found whole bales and parts of bales 
in a double extra 16/18 to average 13i/4 deniers. Two more such 
irregularities in two other lots were detected on examination, 
which would have spoiled hundreds of pieces if the Yokohama in- 
spection had been accepted as final. Many other examples could 
be stated. There are about twenty reasons why manufacturers 
condemn the private chops in use to-day, but these few just men- 
tioned are regarded as convincing enough to justify their stand- 
point. 

Manufacturers believe to a certain extent in the integrity of 
many Japanese reelers, and base their belief on years of experi- 
ence. That "much" is going on among Japanese reelers and specu- 
lators that would not place their reputation in a favorable light 
if known is not to be denied. But the fact that some original 
chops have been in existence for 15, 20 and 30 years, and are 
still going strong, proves the standard quality of such silks, while 
others change their chop tickets as often as Virginia moonshiners 
their distillery labels, for both of which there is a reason. 

In business a man follows the direction which pays him the 
best and if honesty pays better the reeler follows it, even if his 
characteristic tendency should incline the other way. But if mis- 
representations are more profitable, who would blame an honest 
soul for giving up his true but useless efforts, and imitating the 
shady way of the moneymakers? 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 83 

The whole blame lies after all not with the Japanese reelers, 
but with the American silk manufacturers who caused these con- 
ditions by their sheer disinterest in the purchases of raw silk, and 
must suffer the effect. No one can better influence the changes 
of these conditions than the American silk manufacturers, by in- 
sisting upon buying original chops exclusively, which would soon 
bring Japanese rehability up to the standard of European and 
China iilatures. Japanese reelers who are not slow in adapting 
themselves to new conditions would soon realize that in order to 
do a steady and good business they would have to bring their 
products up to a certain standard of whatever classification it 
may be and keep it there. In gaining the confidence of American 
manufacturers they would increase the demand, and with it even 
the price for their silk, and make their chop tickets, which should 
be registered as their trade-mark in Japan and in this country, a 
very valuable asset, in some instances possibly the largest in their 
inventor}^ 

It would be much simpler also if every Japan reeler would 
use only one chop of the postal card size, but with extra marks 
for Summer and Autumn reelings, for the first and second 
choices. For example, one star in the top border indicating first 
choice, two second choice ; in gold. Summer reeling ; in silver. 
Autumn reeling. 

There is no reason why American manufacturers could not 
force a better standard at least on the majority of Japanese fila- 
tures. More direct dealings, through importers and agents, with 
reliable Japanese spinners should be carried on as much as pos- 
sible by placing large contracts six and twelve months in advance, 
in some cases taking their whole output. This would also have 
a beneficial influence on the present hazardous speculations at the 
Yokohama Exchange, and it would tend to reduce the artificial 
price fluctuations to those caused naturally by supply and demand. 
As a first step toward accomplishing the result desired, the writer 
would suggest that the Silk Association of America or an indi- 
vidual enterprise, collect exact information of all Japanese fila- 
tures ; issue a book, free or at a moderate price, to the members 
of the Association, wherein all the original chops should be 
reproduced similar to the one distributed by Messrs. Morimura, 
Arai & Co., which was compiled for the Louisiana Purchase Ex- 
position in 1904, but with the difference that the chops should 
follow in the order of the years they were established, numbered 



84 The Silk Association of America 

accordingly, and be classified and the annual production or 
capacity of each stated. If a number of maps of silk districts, 
with locations of the older and larger filatures indicated thereon, 
were added, it would make the book more interesting. It could 
also describe the particular kind of mulberry trees raised in certain 
districts and their influence on the silk, the difl:erent soil, water 
and climatic conditions, which all aflrect either color, luster, 
touch and fuzziness of the raw silk, and so on. A sufficient 
number of blank pages would be required for adding new chop 
tickets, notes, cancellations and changes supplied by the Silk 
Association of America, until after a few years the issue of a new 
book would become necessary. An index would of course be 
useful, and writing spaces under each chop ticket for manufac- 
turers' records, copies of which would be sent to the editor of 
the book, who maintains strict secrecy regarding the names of 
the manufacturers and importers. This editor could have the 
additional matter printed either in the silk magazines, or mailed 
to subscribers in pamphlet form. 

The trouble seems to have been, up to now, that manufactur- 
ers were holding back their valuable experiences with their raw 
silks out of sheer selfishness, not seeing that an exchange among 
all manufacturers of their experiences would be a much greater 
benefit to each and all than individual results kept secret. It is, 
however, difficult to induce manufacturers to make regular volun- 
tary statements to such an information exchange unless one would 
personally collect them. Manufacturers would, however, all 
eagerly accept the valuable reports of others. 

Publicity, the world's seventh great power, applied to criti- 
cism of the product of Japanese filatures and others, would not 
only keep consumers posted, but it would work wonders in the 
improvement of spinning. 

A new evil has made its appearance in the Yokohama market 
for some years past in the form of Japanese private chop tickets 
used by speculators. The searchlight of publicity thrown on this 
nuisance would make, it either disappear or improve it to higher 
standards. If their labeling were done in the manner suggested, 
so that it would not cover the identity of the original chop, then 
manufacturers could have as little objection to Japanese private 
chops as of New York importers. 

Importers always will be in favor of the private chop system, 
and therefore will not relinquish it voluntarily, since it enables 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 85 

them to operate in silks as tobacco dealers do in tobacco, of which 
they buy all kinds of leaves from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Vir- 
ginia, Key West, Havana, Porto Rico and other places, inspect, 
assort and blend, give each blending a distinctive name (private 
chop) and sell it to the consumer at their own price. 

There would probably be little objection to the application 
of this method to raw silks if sold at the low prices of tobaccos, 
but at the great price difference betwen them and silks, buyers 
are entitled to an equivalent difference in the descriptive informa- 
tion concerning the products, origin and spinning, they are buying. 

The writer, of course, does not entertain the vain hope that 
by the influence of his writings the use of private chops will 
diminish to any great extent. All he hopes is to have sown the 
seed that will in time bear good fruit. He is also willing to write 
more on the same subject in the future, if necessary, to convince 
importers as well as the manufacturers of the wrong done toward 
reelers and consumers by the use of private chops. But, after 
all, as an employee his pecuniary interests in the matter are nil, 
and the fulfilling of his duty ends with the protection of the 
interests of his employers. Outside of this it is immaterial to 
him what is done by others. In trying to bring the matter to the 
attention of others whose interest in the cause is much greater 
than his, he has simply performed a duty he had himself set out 
to do in justice to a principle without any remuneration whatever, 
but at the risk of falling back in the line of prize-winners. 

SUGGESTIONS. 

In answer to the suggested topics the writer's opinion is that 
no decided changes in the making of skeins, books, bales, methods 
of packing are to be suggested except that the diamond crossing 
already made by many Japan filatures should be generally adopted 
because it is the best to wind. 

If all Japan bales weighed about 150 pounds it would be 
more convenient. The uniform net weight of the Canton bales 
is very practical, but the advantages may not be great enough to 
warrant such a big change. 

Poor winding is seldom caused by the silk proper, but in most 
cases by a poor reeling and crossing of the skeins. Japan skeins 
are, however, as a rule "O. K." 

Fine ends are the worst evil in lower grade Japan filatures, 
sometimes even in higher grades, and extra efforts should be made 



86 The Silk Association of America 

to overcome them by better attention from spinners and over- 
seers. 

There is no reasonable Hmit for the number of double ends 
in different grades of raw silks, because there is no reason why 
there should be any double ends at all. They can easily be 
avoided by placing protection shields between every two ends 
running, so that if one end breaks it cannot catch on the run- 
ning one. It doesn't show great ingenuity on the part of Japa- 
nese reelers to keep on making double and triple ends in their 
best silk for years without trying to avoid them by so simple a 
method, which could be attached to all the reels in any filature in 
one day. Just now I have a skein of one of the very best Japan 
filatures on my desk that runs five ends ; four and three ends I 
find often. 

In regard to the New York and Yokohama classifications 
and their relation and defects, I regard none of it as explicit and 
accurate enough. As repeated before one expression, be it in 
words or numbers, does not fully nor accurately identify a silk 
as to its value as a standard to all consumers. Also that all 
methods up to now, to obtain the value of a silk by chemical 
analysis and other complicated tests have failed. Yet short 
terms are necessary in commerce and the term must be obtained 
by examination. But instead of by a compHcated analysis it 
ought to be arrived at by a simple and accurate system that can 
be adopted universally with the same results and thereby become 
of universal value. Instead of taking all the many qualities of 
a silk into consideration to arrive at its value, I take only the 
most important one as a guide, which I judge to be the evenness 
or uniformity in the size of the silk. The four different kinds 
of variations or ''deviations in size" of the report which indicate 
the evenness or uniformity have proven to be the most important 
and at the same time truest indication of the value of a silk. 
Experience has also shown that the other characteristics of a silk 
correspond in most cases proportionately closely to the uniform- 
ity or evenness of the silk. The logic of it is convincing enough 
because the better cocoon materials are naturally spun with more 
care, while inferior natures are spun faster and with less atten- 
tion. 

For the reasons stated the average of the four different kinds 
of variations in "per cent." is the nearest representation of the 
true value of a silk, and if these four variation results should 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 87 

be as follows : Uniformity in the average size of bales, 81 ; uni- 
formity in the average size of skeins, 74 ; uniformity in the aver- 
age size of threads, 82 ; absokite uniformity, 73 ; give a total of 
310, with an average of 77.5, it can be called in short filature 
7^ (seven and three-quarters), which is a decimal less than 
the average number of the per cent, of all variations, and tells 
more about the real value of a silk than the classification terms 
now in use. I would recommend it as a standard classification, 
as it has two principal advantages. One is the truest possible 
valuation, the other is that the classification can be proven or 
checked by buyers. It would also have the beneficial effect that 
reelers, knowing their silks to be valued by evenness, would 
spare no efforts to prevent the spinning of uneven silks. The 
many fine ends, which were impossible to overcome by any other 
means, would thereby surely be reduced to a minimum. So the 
average quality of all silks would be improved, which would in 
return benefit manufacturers through their better running 
quality. 

In recapitulation of the principal suggestions made : 

1. Silk manufacturers take up raw silk inspection. 

2. By a generally adopted system. 

3. That manufacturers favor original chops. 

4. That manufacturers enter into closer dealings with reel- 
ers through importers and agents. 

5. That one way of accomplishing this is by placing con- 
tracts in advance with the favored reelers through importers and 
agents. 

6. That any information office (either of the Silk Asso- 
ciation of America or private enterprise) collect and publish 
monthly reports obtained from manufacturers, throwsters and 
reelers of the qualities of the raw silks. 

7. That raw silks b*e classified by the average result in terms 
of percentage of the four different variations in the size of a 
silk. (Variation in size of bales, skeins and ends and absolute 
uniformity.) 

The writer believes that the adoption of these suggestions 
would not only result advantageously for the manufacturers, but 
for the reelers and dealers as well. 



The Test for Quality, or How the Quality 

of Raw and Thrown Silks Can Be 

Measured and Standardized 

With Suggestions for the Improvement of Their Quality 

H. W. SMITH. 

STANDARDIZATION was not to be expected during the 
formative period of the silk industry ; and there may be those 
who will say that the industry is still developing in all directions 
so rapidly that its very lack of standardization is the best indi- 
cation of progress. There may be others who will disregard, 
decry or even oppose any attempt at any approach to standards, 
especially in such articles as raw and thrown silks. Yet there 
is a vast difference between the present lack of standardization in 
such matters and a dead level of mediocrity. 

The fact remains, however, that the standardization of raws 
and throwns is not only possible and eminently desirable, but 
should have advanced far beyond its present infantile condition. 

It is so evident that so little thought and effort have in the 
main been given to the matter of standardization that the very 
opposite is indicated by the use of such terms as "Double Extra," 
"Special Extra," "Standard Extra," "Best Extra," "Extra," and 
all the rest of the nomenclature, in connection with raw and 
thrown silks, is taken as a guarantee of quality or fitness, instead 
of the very reverse holding good, as should be the case. 

They are meaningless trade terms used to denote standards, 
but possess no quality-giving merit. 

We must fix definite standards of quality for our raw and 
thrown silks. Their quality should be uniformly measured by 
fitness, for the true definition of quality is fitness. 

But there can be no standard classification of quality until 
real "standards" involving a consideration of such terms as Even- 
ness, Cleanliness, Elasticity, Tenacity, Luster, Color, Nature, 
Winding and Boil-off, which determine what is the measure or 
standard of fitness or quality are first adopted, after which the 
further such standards are departed from, the less will be the 
real quality. 



90 The Silk Association of America 

It is not the intention of the writer to set forth at length, 
in any of the suggestions that follow for the improvement of 
raw and thrown silks, the well-known trade facts that speckiness, 
corkscrews, nibs, hairiness, double ends and other defects abound 
in altogether too plentiful variety in very many of the qualities 
that should be quite free of them. Every day mill practice 
shows this. The knowledge gained in that practice is here set 
down. Some supplementary researches that we have made 
microscopically, together with the examinations that our humble 
understanding of chemistry has permitted, have disclosed much 
that has been helpful and of interest. The conclusions drawn 
therefrom, however, were not of sufficient scientific importance 
to have more than an indirect bearing upon the question of the 
prevention of raw silk defects. It becomes obvious, then, that 
only the practical experience of one skilled in the handling of 
the silk fiber in its various processes of manufacture could ade- 
quately uncover the causes for the presence of said defects. 
Knowing the causes, we are the better enabled to suggest such 
means as will eradicate them, and thereby secure the desired 
improvement in quality. 

Knowing first that such defects exist, and having traced the 
causes to their origin, the very practices that produce them, being 
remedial, it therefore follows that the correction or prevention 
of such practices must result in a larger output of silk of higher 
quality. 

Therefore, the initial and paramount idea in our several sug- 
gestions to follow, is prevention. To deal with it successfully it 
will be necessary to change some present practices and institute 
needed reforms. 

• We therefore suggest that a very material betterment of 
Japan Extras can be obtained by efl^ecting a higher order of labor 
and machinery efficiency in the reeling establishments and by 
inaugurating an organization that will spread greater efficiency 
throughout the industry, from breeders through all divisions of 
sericulture to the bahng for market. The efficiency uplift of the 
workers will be advanced best by the employment of experts in 
scientific management to instill into the minds of the sericulture 
principals a thorough understanding of the practical workings 
of the principles for obtaining the highest grade of product by 
greater economic endeavor. 

We are not unmindful of the fact that there to-day exists 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 9i 

in the Japanese filatnres orderliness, cleanliness and discipline, 
even uniformed discipline, regulating the deportment of em- 
ployees. Neither do we forget that the Japanese silk workers 
are gifted with considerable native aptitude and natural dex- 
terity in handling and working the silken fiber. We do know, 
however, that those natural qualities have not been as thoroughly 
well developed as they can be, nor have the operatives been edu- 
cated to that higher degree of efficiency which insures conscien- 
tious performance of the tasks allotted to them. Though their 
minds may be dulled by the continuous monotony of their work, 
they are still pliant and impressionable and would quickly respond 
to the teachings of scientific efficiency. It is here then that the 
work is cut out for those who earnestly seek for ways that will 
bring better raw silks. 

While the work of betterment should embrace all divisions 
of sericulture, even to including the problems of the mulberry 
tree plantations, breeders, silkworm rearing houses, selection and 
inspection of cocoons, etc., it is of the utmost importance to give 
special consideration to the reeling departments. 

If those who represent the best interests in Japan's raw silk 
industry — and it is to those interests that the world's consumers 
chiefly look for the progress that is to be made — are ever to 
secure the larger proportion of the growing business in high- 
grade silks suitable for single weaving and other purposes for 
which only the high quahties are serviceable, greater effort must 
be made first to improve the quality of Japan Extras. It is by 
expanding and improving the output of such silks as Sano, 
Kawano, Saninseishi and Muroyama silks that top our Japan 
classification that her filatures can hope to supply the world's 
ever-increasing need of perfect winding, high-test silks. 

If volume of output only is to continue to overshadow the 
importance of quality, nothing will avail, as quality will then, as 
too frequently now, be sacrificed to quantity in the greed for big 
production. We therefore agreed that quality first should be the 
slogan, let quantity come as the natural consequence of well-man- 
aged development on the scientific principles here suggested. 

The Japanese sericulturists should first improve themselves 
in scientific management, then utilize their knowledge in develop- 
ing their labor and perfecting their equipment and there will be 
obtained with astonishing progress a higher quality and greater 
quantity of raw silk with reasonable economy. 



93 The Silk Association of America 

We would suggest that the new order of things be instituted 
under the auspices of the Government or Japan Sericultural As- 
sociation, or both. Suitable money or medal awards should be 
made as an incentive to higher efficiency endeavor, the same to 
apply to manufacturing organizations and their employees. The 
award to filatures might take the form of a seal signifying that 
the product had passed the high standards of Government or 
Association tests for quality. Such a stamp would come to be 
recognized in the world's markets as an official guarantee and 
carry with it the highest value for the merchandise. 

Efficiency experts duly qualified for such positions by ex- 
aminations should be appointed to regular circuits covering each 
division of sericulture. It should be their duty to assist by edu- 
cational methods in making improvements, to make regular in- 
spections of the progress made in each line of work, and cover 
the results in detailed reports. 

The improved quality of the resulting product will be largely 
dependent upon the unrelaxing supervisions and inspections 
made, and the patience shown in doing educational work. Ade- 
cjuate checks should therefore be maintained on the faithfulness 
with which the official inspectors perform their duties. Much of 
the carelessness arising from the long hours of work, and the 
monotonous character of the tasks, to which are easily traceable 
many of the causes of defects, will have been remedied through 
effecting preventive methods. 

To improve the quality of raw silks means fewer irregulari- 
ties, more uniformity in size, greater tenacity and elasticity, higher 
luster, freedom from discolorations — streakiness in color — maxi- 
mum whiteness ; and minimizing or eliminating to the greatest 
possible degree such defects as speckiness, fine and coarse ends, 
corkscrews, hairiness, split ends, soft threads, double ends, etc. 

Defects arising from the careless mixing of inferior cocoons 
with choice selections must be guarded against in the initial in- 
spections and sortings. Further safeguarding is essential through- 
out the filature, even at the basins by the girls preparing the 
cocoons for reeling and by the reeler girls, as there must be 
absolute reliability in the superior grade of the cocoons used in 
obtaining the perfect silk. 

The conclusions that we have drawn from our microscopic 
examinations and inspections under powerful magnifying glasses 
of many grades and a great variety of chops are that many of the 



RaAV Silk Prize Essays Q'J 

faults that militate against perfect quality in our raw silks are 
not emitted by the silkworm in the spinning of the cocoon. Our 
researches failed to disclose how the greater proportion of the 
faults enumerated as such could be part of a filament that is dis- 
charged in a fluid nature by the silkworm. 

We have, however, been repeatedly astonished, after reeling 
goodly portions of very many skeins of Extras in single traverse, 
at discovering an almost utter absence of clean knots that would 
indicate careful reeling. 

Therefore, as supplementing all that has already been sug- 
gested, and in furtherance of our proposed plan of scientific man- 
agement, we propose as follows : 

Filatures. — Designate for the enterprise one or more of the 
most modern filatures most favorably located for producing a 
perfect silk product. 

Cocoons. — There should be no promiscuous buying of co- 
coons for these filatures. The cocoons used must be the choicest 
selections of the very highest grade crops obtainable, gathered 
in the beginning of the Spring and Autumn seasons. There 
should be designated two choices, one first and one second 
quality, from each seasons' crop, selected by the most expert 
inspectors whose gradings may be absolutely depended upon. 

Distilled Water. — Distilled water should be used throughout 
the filature, and kept in fresh supply in the basins in order to 
insure uniform whiteness to the silk and maintain it free from 
discolorations produced by waters containing alkalis, ferric chlo- 
ride or other chemical properties likely to produce discolorations. 

(We would here ^dd by way of additional suggestion, — if 
the use of distilled water was authorized for all filatures by the 
Japanese Government, there would be a very material benefit 
resulting from the absence of streakiness and dark shades pro- 
duced by water containing chemical qualities that have a depre- 
ciating value upon the silk and add to the troubles of the dyers.) 

Basins. — There should be unrelaxing vigilance on the part 
of the brushers and reeler girls against the use of defective 
cocoons. 

There must be a close watch kept on the thermometers to 
guard against under and over-cooking and insure keeping the 
basin waters at even temperature, 160 degrees Fahrenheit while 
reeling. 



94 The Silk Association of America 

We must now guard at every point against jeopardizing the 
high quahty of the silk and permit no heedless or indifferent 
inspections on the part of those entrusted with overlooking the 
work of the reeling girls. The number of overseers should there- 
fore be adequate, rather more than less than enough to insure that 
the reeling is being done under high efficiency observation. 

Reelers and Overseers. — This brings us now to considera- 
tion of the reeler girls and their overseers. We would suggest a 
reasonable division of the work allotted to the girls as being more 
conducive to quality and quantity as well. 

The most skilful reeler girls who are known for their care- 
ful work are to be chosen for reeling the first grade cocoons ; 
the second choice of cocoons going to the next best reelers. They 
will be assisted by the best girls as brushers in preparing the 
cocoons and tending the basins. 

The great essential now is the appointing over the reelers 
and brushers of trustworthy forewomen who can be relied upon 
not to permit any infraction of the instructions in regard to pro- 
ducing perfect work. One inspectress to every twenty basins will 
insure better results than one to thirty. It is not to be taken for 
granted that because choice grades are in work that there can 
be less supervision and any lax inspection. On the contrary, the 
fact that we have good running silk is the important reason why 
we want to keep it running right. 

Careful reeling and selections of cocoons must be rigidly 
enforced, and the supervision must insure, that the twistings run 
from eight to ten inches in length, if we are to secure good luster 
to our silk; that there is not permitted more than the minimum 
variation from size. 

Size variations result from uneven cocoons and cocoons ends 
breaking at the filliere, ring or other point and being held in- 
active while the remaining cocoons are unwinding. Instead of 
correctly knotting broken ends when discovered the reeler girl 
hurriedly twists them to running ends, permitting the passing of 
nibs, split and fine end. Particles of cocoon waste catch on and 
are, by the speed of the traveler, whirled on into the skein, 
making slubs. 

Fresh cocoons slipped into the basins are thrown on before 
the changing point is reached for the cocoons running out. The 
reeler too frequently resorts to the easier rather than to the cor- 
rect way, to save time. The result is double and coarse little 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 95 

slubs and loose filaments making soft ends from insufficient twist. 

With the reeler girls driven at top speed and inspired only 
by a desire to get out the required quantity of skeins, time and 
quantity are to them more precious than quality. The little de- 
fects that are permitted to pass may not, it is hoped, be checked 
up against them, since they are handling choice chops, but any 
falling ofif in production on their part would be. So they haven't 
the time to consider quality. 

There is great necessity here for supervision that will pre- 
vent these sharp practices if extra high quahty ever is to result. 
There should be correct knotting, and a cleaning of the ends, 
with all waste removed from the hands while knotting if we 
would prevent nibs, corkscrews, fine and coarse ends, and the 
frequently complained of double, single and soft ends. 

Higher Efficiency. — If success is to crown the effort for 
higher efficiency in the filature there must be no overtaxing of 
the energies by too long hours of employment. Therefore a 
reasonable reduction in the hours of labor is recommended to give 
the operatives needed rest periods. We can only attain better 
work by conserving those elements of energy and fitness in both 
the human factor and the machine which are to be instrumental 
in our securing it. 

Travelette and Accessories. — -The overseers should make 
regular and frequent inspections of the travelette and all of its 
accessories, examining under a magnifying glass the twisting 
parts, rings, guides, etc., over which the thread traverses. On 
the first discovery of the most minute cut in any of the acces- 
sory parts the same should be removed and replaced by perfect 
ones, also examined before being placed in position. 

The disposition is to slight this very important work, and 
there results from the cut parts fleckiness, split ends and nibs, the 
latter resulting from a split end or broken fiber catching into the 
cut of the guide, shirring up to a knob and later being whirled 
on to the skein by the momentum of the drag of the thread, its 
bulk forcing it from the cut in the porcelain work. Only the 
closest supervision here is a sure preventative. 

Speed of Travelers. — Much of the choice quality that we 
would preserve in our Extras is sacrificed by the altogether too 
high speed at which the travelers are operated. It may be 
granted that the tenacity and elasticity of Extras will stand high 
speed reeling. But why, when quality is so greatly desired, 



96 The Silk Association of America 

should two of the prime requisites to high quahty be so strained 
as to materially reduce the high percentage tests the silks would 
have if not kept near the maximum breaking point by the exces- 
sive tension and drag of high speed merely for the sake of 
quantity? Here again we must be governed in what we seek to 
procure wholly by our desire for either quantity or quality. We 
can hardly expect to strip quality for quantity and get both. No 
more can we eat our cake and have it. 

Therefore if we force the speed of the travelers to very 
nearly what strain the silk will stand we not only get quantity 
but we key up the energies of the reeler girls to the utmost, and 
under the double strain of machine and operative multiply the 
defects we really want to see decreased. Our raw product has 
its value affected by defects consequent upon inefficient super- 
vision, and is made tender by excessive tension that robs it of 
much of the tenacity we expect of it on test. 

We would suggest slower speeds for the travelers, and par- 
ticularly for the fine sizes. While our plan of higher efficiency 
will insure a vastly improved quality without any very material 
sacrifice in the speed of the travelers, we believe that if closer 
attention were given to the speed transmissions, and the same 
regulated according to good judgment for the different sizes and 
qualities reeled, worth while improvement would result. We 
think with due attention to this important matter that the wisdom 
of the director will dictate reasonable speeds. 

While in the improved supervision that is here suggested 
there may be a little extra expense incurred, it will be compen- 
sated for in the better quality of the silk. Our object, however, 
is to secure the best possible product at a minimum outlay that 
will not advance present costs of production. 

There could be many additional expenses incurred that 
would bring improvements, such as the more general adoption 
of the automatic catch wheels, and greater use of the combina- 
tion reeling systems in the filatures, etc., but we prefer to limit 
our suggestions to ways of improving the material at command 
by a plan that will bring results without much added cost. 

Sizing. — For our choices of silks we have previously sug- 
gested that only the best cocoons be selected. The sizing must 
be made with exactitude that will minimize the variations in size, 
for if we are to secure uniformity there should not be variations 
exceeding possibly ^-denier over or under the size to be reeled. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays ^"^ 

Only the most rigid inspection that can be enforced in the selec- 
tion of the cocoons for the basins and by careful rejections on 
the part of the reeler girls will greatly help here. The inspec- 
tresses must see that the reeler girls are diligent in keeping the 
right number of cocoons in their basins. Travelers should be 
taken to the testing office frequently during the day and selected 
at random for testing as to size as a check against the running of 
irregularities and lax supervision. The girls inspecting the silk 
on travelers should be held strictly accountable here, also those 
engaged in final cleaning and inspecting of the skeins preparatory 
to packing. 

Rereeling. — While most of the better grades of silks coming 
to us from Japan are now rereeled, and the second reeling re- 
moves much of the gum deposits at the contact surfaces on the 
travelers, we have a suggestion to make. 

As heavy gums are largely produced as a result of the width 
of the traveler bars, we suggest that it be tried as an experiment, 
to reduce the width of the bars by making the bars of triangle 
form like an inverted V with the point of the V rounded to 
the width of about one-third that of the present contact surface 
of the bar. This, we believe, will so minimize the size of the 
gums as to facilitate rereeling, and in cases where done only to 
reduce the gums would dispense with rereeling. 

Lacings. — It is especially recommended that in addition to 
the present number of lacings placed in the skeins that an extra 
cotton thread be tied around the skein between each lacing — not 
laced through the skein. 

These extra tieings at places on the skein where the silk 
fluffs out when the skeins are opened in the throwing mill, will 
help the better winding of the silk by reducing the possibility of 
broken ends in the handling of the silk in its preparation for the 
soaking solution and at the winding frames. 

We believe that the splendid winding qualities of many silks 
would be conserved if the extra tie strings were put on the skeins, 
as suggested, thus keeping the threads better bunched. The 
result, we feel sure, would be that silks so prepared would be 
reported by the throwsters as "very good winders" where now 
they are referred to as but from "fair" to "good." 

Classification. — Our four lots of finished perfect silks are 
to be the recognized standards of the highest grades obtainable 
from the choicest first and second selections of early Spring and 



98 - The Silk Association of America 

Autumn cocoons, and designated as permanent standards. The 
quaHty designations and maintenance of standards to be accord- 
ing to samples retained for comparison at the filature, the Seri- 
cultural Association, Conditioning Houses, etc. 

They are to be known as "Tomioka" factory reelings, the 
classification by chop and markings being as follows : 

Special Grand Extra, "Imperial White Diamond Chop," 
from first choice of Spring cocoons by .first-grade reeling girls. 

Extra Extra A, "Golden Crown Chop," from second choice 
Spring cocoons by second-grade reeling girls. 

Extra Extra B, "Imperial Gold Diamond Chop," from first 
choice Autumn cocoons by first-grade reeling girls. 

Best Extra, "Silver Crown Chop," from second choice Au- 
tumn cocoons by second-grade reeling girls. 

The above classifications are suggested merely as a guide 
for establishing standard gradings, from which no deviation 
should be allowed. 

Additional gradings, whether intermediate or possessing suf- 
ficient quality to warrant specific classification as Best No. 1, 
etc., should be honestly graded and not permitted to be used as 
substitutes, no matter what the circumstances or condition of the 
market. Substitution in almost any form must eventually de- 
tract from the reputation sought after for standard qualities, 
whatever the grade. 

Efficiency Ratings. — As a record of the progress made in 
efficiency work we would suggest that the inspection of filatures, 
reelers, etc., their equipment, state of upkeep, efficiency of opera- 
tives, quality of product, should receive official recognition on 
the basis of the point system of merit marks, ten points each 
given as follows: 

1 — For maintained standard quality of cocoons. 

2 — Efficiency of reeler girls. 

3 — Using distilled water and maintaining its cleanliness in 
basins. 

4 — Maintained uniform temperature of basin waters. 

5 — Efficient upkeep of equipment. 

6 — Efficient management and supervision. 

7 — Purity of color of silks. ■ - 

8 — Normal speed maintenance of travelers. 

9 — Quality of skeins. 

10 — Maintained standards of general quality of product. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 99 

Suitable awards of merit to be awarded annually to the opera- 
tives attaining the highest percentages. 

Official seal of standardized quality to go to filature, reelers, 
etc. 

While inditing the foregoing suggestions we have been fully 
cognizant of the splendid and highly commendable work that has 
been done in sericulture in Japan by the Japanese Government, 
the Sericultural Association, the various sericulture societies and 
the foremost filatures, reelers, growers and inspectors. Japan's 
remarkable, even phenomenal, growth and development of her 
great silk industry is ample proof of the great intelligence and 
progressiveness of her people, all of which is too well known to 
be further dwelt upon here. 

In what we suggest herein we are actuated by the sincere 
desire to, in our humble way, give the Japanese silk people the 
benefit of our own experiences and researches in the hope that 
some of the things presented will result in investigation that will 
show the efficacy of the principles of scientific efficiency. 

CLASSIFICATION OF RAW SILKS. 

Much of the existing ignorance regarding raw silks could 
be dispelled, much misunderstanding removed, and misrepresenta- 
tion and substitution safeguarded against by including in the 
New York Classification the intermediate gradings. We believe 
that this would minimize the selling of grades below Double 
Extras and above Extras as Double Extras at slightly lower 
quotations than are quoted for strictly Double Extra grade — 
and other substitutions. 

Much confusion and misunderstanding results from such 
deviations from standard classification as "Special Double 
Extra," "Standard Double Extra," "Fair Double Extra," and 
the like, which, to the consumer only makes confusion worse 
confounded, and heaps upon the raw silk business the oppro- 
brium of being honeycombed with chicanery. 

Efficiency standards for grading silks will rectify this. Such 
classification might be arrived at by the adoption of the 100 per 
cent, efficiency, and proportions thereof, basis for Evenness, 
Cleanliness, Tenacity, Elasticity, Winding and Boil-off. 

While the following suggestion for working out efficiency 
standards is not given with any exactness, our idea will un- 
doubtedly be understood: 



10*^ The Silk Association of America 

Evenness. — The Raw Silk Rules and Regulations of the Silk Asso- 
ciation of America to be the basis — or 3 deniers either way — 
to be determined by an established number of tests as standard 
— applying to sizes from finest to coarsest, as . . 100 per cent. 
Cleanliness. — Number of imperfections to be determined by tests 
to become standard, with scale fixed between minimum and 

maximum quantity found for rating at 100 per cent. 

or proportions thereof. 
Elasticity. — Silk stretching 25 per cent., say size 13/15, to rate 

as efficiency standard as 100 per cent. 

Tenacity. — Determined in the same way, a tenacity of say 60 

grammes equaling 100 per cent. 

Winding. — On the basis of Conditioning House test for winding 
test at standard speeds for varying sizes, 100 travelles to 

be 100 per cent. 

Boil-off. — A boil-off of 16 per cent, would rate as the equivalent 
of 100 per cent. 

Silks attaining 100 per cent, on combination test would 
grade as first quality, 95 per cent, as second quality, and so on, 
with as many quality gradings as might be desired. 

The work of establishing standard efficiency gradings could 
be expedited by the co-operation of the Yokohama and New 
York Conditioning Houses by supplying raw silk dealers and the 
Silk Association of America or both with test reports of the 
various silks quarterly or semi-annually. Said reports to be ac- 
companied at the opening of each new season with samples of 
the silks, and filed for reference and comparison with succeed- 
ing crops. Reports and silks would enable the reaching of effi- 
ciency classifications after a few seasons. 

Efficiency standards for a classification on some such basis 
would enable silk manufacturers to readily determine the suit- 
ableness of the silks purchased for the purposes required of 
them. There would be marked benefit resulting to both dealers 
and consumers in the clarity with which transactions in raw silk 
could be conducted. 

SPECULATION. 

We strongly recommend and urge organized effort against 
the use of raw silks as a speculative commodity in the producing 
centers and principal markets of Japan. The evils that are in- 
jected into the business by the machinations and manipulations 



Raw Silk Prize Essays '01 

of the gambling element should be corrected and, if possible, re- 
moved. Wherein is the use of great efforts to improve the 
quality of a product if as a commodity for world uses that 
quality is to be juggled with to a degree that breeds suspicion 
and caution, with each party to a transaction trying to secure 
undue advantage over the other ! 

All dealings should be transacted on a businesshke and re- 
Hable basis under proper laws for their regulation which would 
enforce contracts being lived up to as made, no matter who the 
transactors may be, whether growers and filatures, filatures and 
dealers, inspectors, exporters, importers and final consumers. 

We have representative Silk Associations in America, Eu- 
rope and Japan with sufficient influence to obtain the co-opera- 
tion, if necessary, of the Government of Japan to secure Gov- 
ernment regulation of a market so important to the Japanese 
nation as is raw silk, and in the interest of a silk industry which 
in America and Europe has attained such large proportions as 
to entitle it to the protection that will insure its being a safe and 
stable market. In the United States alone there is to-day in- 
vested in the silk industry an amount of capital altogether too 
large to be menaced season after season by speculations. 

There should be a Government penalty against false market 
reports. 

Accurate and dependable crop and stock reports should be 
issued regularly by an authorized organization. 

Such reports should include stocks on hand in warehouses 
and those held by dealers and exporters. Reports should also 
be issued in New York of stocks in warehouse and available for 
use. 

Chops should be made to represent what they actually stand 
for. Here in America we have come to view the guarantee as 
of no value unless backed by a well-known policy that forces 
living up to it. We have no confidence in a guarantee without 
some proof of its being carried out. 

Yet in buying raw silks we buy chop marks. In some cases 
we have come to accept a chicken, dragon, or other symbol as a 
fairly safe guarantee of quality. Yet once we meet with but a 
slight variation in the quality of the silk represented by such chop 
mark, and suspicion replaces confidence, condemnation follows, 
even charges of substitutions are made. Then where are our 
standards? 



103 The Silk Association of America 

For a time reliance is put in the reliable importers. A 
trifling misunderstanding sometimes arises, misconstructions fol- 
low, and the reputation of the most straightforward of dealers is 
put into the balance and made to suffer loss in patronage because 
of the omissions and commissions of some less reliable com- 
petitor. 

If we measure our industrial advancement by the antiquated 
customs and practices that permit such things to obtain in mod- 
ern day business conduct, surely then we have not progressed 
beyond the period they represent. 

EDUCATING THE MANUFACTURER. 

We suggest a campaign of education for the benefit of the 
silk manufacturer. An educational propaganda that will give 
him a more practical knowledge of raw and thrown silks and 
will enable him to buy his raw and thrown stocks with greater 
intelligence regarding their suitableness for the purposes for 
which they are wanted. The distribution of such information 
where it is most needed will effect essential economies in manu- 
facturing. If such an undertaking results in preventing manu- 
facturers resorting to low grade silks for a high quality product 
it will be a success. Great losses are taken as a result of using 
silks for purposes for which they are inadequate to bring out 
the quality desired in the finished product. The appearance 
of the article is not up to the quality intended for it, and the 
production is sold at a loss of profit, or below cost. Frequently 
the raw silk dealer is charged with having substituted an inferior 
grade for the one purchased. 

CONDITIONING. 

While we strongly recommend that all raw and thrown silk 
transactions be made on conditioned weight as to boil-off with 
adequate testing reports by the United States Conditioning & 
Testing Co., as an assurance of reliability and guarantee of 
quality by the seller, and as the most intelligent basis for the buyer 
to determine the suitableness of the silk for the class of work 
it is wanted for, we would suggest, as a part of the foregoing 
educational propaganda, a more general dissemination of the 
benefits of conditioning and testing. We have reason to believe 
that many of the new raw and thrown silk purchasing factors 
that have, within the past few years, become a large and growing 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 103 

element, consuming large quantities of raw and thrown material 
are not as well informed in this regard as they should be. 

Credits.- — A movement tending to the curtailment of raw 
silk credits, having for its object the reducing of ratings to a 
three months' basis, with regular trade discount for settlements 
made in ten days, would be progressive if harmoniously entered 
into. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN THROWING SILKS. 

Apparently all throwsters do not handle raw silks as though 
they were regardful of the real characteristics of the fiber they 
are working. This is in part due to an insufficient knowledge 
of silk, lack of practical experience in the throwing business, 
inefficient organization, perverted policy and practices, and the 
result as well of poor supervision of the silk in process, of the 
equipment and the labor. 

In fact there are so many things in the throwing business 
that would not pass a "National Board of Censors" because 
wrongfully done, and therefore more or less injurious to the raw 
material and the business, that we hardly know where to begin to 
make suggestions for improvement of the ultimate product. 

Fortunately we have a number of concerns that represent 
all that standardized business organizations stand for, and they 
will serve as splendid examples, for the purpose of comparison, 
of what can be accomplished in the throwing division by men 
of broad intelligence who have a firm grasp on the practical 
backed by a scientific understanding of their affairs. 

As any suggestions made for the improvement of silk 
throwing, no matter how practicable, can be of benefit only when 
carried out, and as some drastic action may require their adop- 
tion, perhaps a radical suggestion to begin with may. prove ac- 
ceptable. 

As the members of the Throwsters' Division of the Silk 
Association of America will represent the best element that is 
seeking to establish the business of throwing silks on a higher 
plane, we would suggest that Division B proceed in the good 
work that has been started in effecting an organization, by in- 
stituting efficiency ratings for throwing firms just as credit ratings 
are given to business concerns. 

Only those throwing firms taking membership in Division 
B shall be entitled to a rating. 



104 The Silk Association of America 

A practical and efficient throwster shall be appointed under 
the direction of the organization whose duties shall be to reg- 
ularly visit the mills of members and report on plant, equipment, 
methods, supervision, labor, etc., etc. Such reports are to serve 
as a basis for ratings, and the same are to be accessible to 
present and prospective customers as an official record of main- 
tained standardized efficiency. 

Throwing mills not so supplied should be requested to 
install adequate testing apparatuses. Such equipment or the 
absence of it to count in the ratings given. 

It should be part of the rules and regulations of the organi- 
zation that each and every lot of silk put into work be thor- 
oughly tested, and a full report of such tests together with the 
grade and chop mark of the silk be supphed to Division B under 
key numbers, the identify of the consignor, whether manufac- 
turer or importer, not to form part of such test record. If 
Conditioning House report is sent to the throwster, copy of same 
with the throwster's test report, should be forwarded for filing. 

Testing reports so received should comprise quarterly, — 
or shorter or longer terms, may be deemed desirable — reports 
to the Sericultural Association of Japan for the intelligence 
given in regard to the working qualities of the silks as they are 
determined by the throwsters. 

Mills rated according to inspection reports would become 
known to patrons as "high rated" mills of the utmost reliabil- 
ity, whose product is standardized under high efficiency methods. 
Those without the jurisdiction of Division B would come to be 
known as "no rating" mills, not up to standard. 

While desirable business advantages would accrue to mem- 
bership firms, there would be no violation of the laws govern- 
ing restraint of trade in such a procedure, inasmuch as the 
benefits would be open to all willing to meet the requirements 
of the organization. 

While the foregoing is presented merely as a suggestion, 
and it may provoke comment and criticism, it may serve as the 
basis for further thought on the matter presented. 

Personally we are of the opinion that some such regula- 
tion would be more effective in its operation than any proposi- 
tion to bond either the throwing firms or individual members 
thereof. In the matter of bonding there is no implied financial 
responsibility. It is just a contract of trust easily entered into 
by any individual or concern. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 105 

Just as there is a Committee on Complaints, so there should 
be a Committee on Standard Efficiency and Methods, whose 
duty it should be to investigate and report on all matters con- 
sidered as beneficial for the general uplift of the industry. 

There are diametrically opposite methods of cost finding 
in the industry which result in prices that are not at all com- 
mensurate with the increasing cost of production. Therefore, 
as supplementing and dovetailing the work that would fall to 
the Committee on Standardized Efficiency in its efforts to arrive 
at methods for obtaining greater efficiency in production, — 
which is really essential in order both to reduce costs and form 
a basis for obtaining more accurate cost figures, — there should 
also be a Committee on Cost Finding to establish standard prices. 

SOAKING SILK FOR THROWING. 

Somewhat widely different methods and processes are fol- 
lowed in preparing the silk for the soaking bath and in the 
process of soaking itself. We would suggest that closer super- 
vision be given to these matters for the purpose of bringing 
about needed improvement. 

While some silks, particularly those of soft nature running 
even and clean, may perhaps be thrown bright with fairly satis- 
factory results, all throwing is not delegated to those who are 
sufficiently well informed regarding the real nature of silks to 
undertake bright throwing successfully. 

Silks thrown in the bright should be handled in a mill 
equipped with an efficient humidifying and moistening appar- 
atus. Otherwise the electricity in the fiber, and in the exceed- 
ingly dry atmosphere of the mill, will give considerable trouble. 
Our personal experiences with bright throwing, made under 
the most favorable atmospheric conditions with many different 
kinds of silks, were not the most gratifying notwithstanding that 
they were made on the new combination as well as the old 
types of machines. While we found the running qualities of 
the silks good, it was discovered on microscopic examinations, 
and by taking black and white twist tests, that the bright silk 
did not flock uniformly in the second time over. Where the 
fibers run flat, where two coarse fibers came together, there re- 
sulted corkscrews. The threads kinked and looped easily and, 
on the whole, did not give anything like the same satisfaction 
as the same silks soaked and thrown over the same machinery. 



106 The Silk Association of America 

More of these defects of bright throwing were visible even to 
the naked eye in the satin face of the finished product than 
was desirable for its quality. 

We therefore suggest that a much better result is to be 
obtained by soaking, when it is properly done. In too many 
mills, however, the silk is badly handled in tying-up for soaking. 
Small help is entrusted with this work. The skeins are handled 
roughly and many threads are broken in untwisting, tying with 
stiff, knotty, raveled-end tie strings, to which the silk is caught 
and broken, and more broken ends result from the repeated 
handlings before the silk is finally deposited into the soaking 
tubs — all of which will lower the winding qualities of the very 
best grades. 

In some mills we have found that the skeins are opened 
full length and tied at both ends in the belief that in this way 
they get a more thorough soaking. 

Silk is tumbled and jammed into the solution tubs, and not 
infrequently put into liquor at a temperature altogether too high 
for its nature by careless soakers. Only recently we were con- 
sulted as to how silk that had been softened and rendered hairy 
by all night emersion in a hot soaking solution, could be woven 
through the looms into which it had been placed before its real 
condition was discovered. 

There are many reasons why there should be a standardized 
method for handling silk in the process of soaking. Until some 
standard procedure is adopted the dealers in raw silks will be 
called upon to allow claims for the shortcomings of unreliable 
labor and methods. 

We suggest the use of wooden soaking tubs as preferable 
to tubs of composition or metal. We contend from experience 
that the first is better for the silk. Our experience has shown 
us that the wooden tub does not retain heat nor generate it as 
do the tubs of composition and metal. 

We have taken samples of silk emersed in solution at 85 
degrees F. from the center of batches in a composition tub and 
from a wooden tub, after soaking all night, tested them in the 
raw state and also in the dyed, and found that the composition 
tub silks showed hairiness not shown in the silks from the wood 
tub solution. This hairiness was considerably greater in the dyed 
samples from the composition tub, indicating excessive softening 
of the fiber from long retention of the heat in the composition 
tub, where the heat was thrown off gradually in the tub of wood. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 



107 



AN IMPROVED SOAKING APPARATUS. 

We therefore direct attention to the need of improved soak- 
ing utensils, and would suggest the use of an apparatus here 
ilkistrated, as likely to i)roduce better soaking results : 



14 _ 

O CCD CEX> ClUi 



^ 




» v/H vm mm viiin/Mvmn a 



ilMMinumum viit uii/n mm»-i 



)6 



9 



W 



12 




No. 1 is a wooden tub or vat into which the silk is placed 
for soaking, the silk being between two perforated wooden sec- 
tions, top being removed for the emersion of the silk and then 
replaced and clamped firmly into position — represented by the 
dark lines crossing the tub. No. 2 is the tank for the soaking 
solution, and in which same is saponified before entering the 
tub, the steam for boiling being supplied through the perforated 
pipes at the bottom, marked No. 14. No. 13 is a centrifugal 
pump, which may be operated by belt drive from a nearby shaft, 
or an individual drive electric motor. This rotary pump is used 
for circulating the solution, drawing same from No. 2 by the 
pipe No. 9 and forcing it through the silk in No. 1 from the 
space No. 3 at the bottom of the tub and into the space at the 
top No. 4, from whence by. pipe No. 8 and No. 12 it is returned 
by pipe No. 7 to the tank . No. 2, continually circulating in this 
round through the silk. By reversing the valves Nos. 10 and 11 
the solution enters through the silk in the opposite direction 
from No. 4. 



1U8 The Silk Association of America 

Constant circulation of the soaking solution through the 
silk in both directions insures uniform penetration of the liquid 
through the silk. The solution is kept evenly mixed at all times 
and insures an equal distribution through the silk of the soap 
and oil, obviating the settlement of these ingredients at the bot- 
tom of the tub, as in the old method. Thorough soaking is made 
in shorter time than in the old way. 

As the solution is sent through the silk by force pump, a 
force that may be regulated according to the speed, the inner- 
most fibers of the skeins are penetrated. 

This forced circulation being more penetrating than the capil- 
lary attraction method of the stationary solution, the skeins may 
be deposited in the tub as they are taken from the "book," 
without untwisting. 

There is saved thereby the labor cost of tying, and all its 
attendant abuses. 

The winding quality of the silk is preserved to its highest 
efficiency. 

Soaking becomes more scientific and cleanly. 

The danger of injury to the silk in the process of soaking 
is reduced to the minimum. 

Silk should be emersed in the tub loose enough to allow 
it to float slightly, and not be packed or held down under 
weights. 

WINDING, DOUBLING, SPINNING AND REELING. 

We test our fiber to ascertain its strength and elasticity 
only to rob it of much of both by subjecting it to the weakening 
strain of the severe tension of high speed winding, frequently 
done with the swifts weighted. 

We would suggest more rational speeds for winding frames. 

A very material reduction of the top notch speeds at which 
first and second time spinners are being driven would also 
benefit the fiber, secure a more perfect product and a more 
satisfactory output. 

We believe that the craze for high speed was born of the 
desire to bring about a reduction in the cost of production by 
increasing production. Experience has proven that under ex- 
cessive speeds production was sacrificed and quality lowered 
while costs were increased. What false economy ! 

Greater efficiency in production will reduce costs. 

Specializing in throwing will reduce costs. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays i"« 

Standardization of plant operation and methods reduces 
'costs. 

Efficient supervision reduces costs. 

We would suggest that the intelligent, skilled, and respon- 
sible heads of throwing mills rigidly enforce and personally 
supervise the closer and more regular inspection of all wire 
work and porcelain accessories over and through which the 
silk traverses while in work. This should be done especially 
with flyers, spinning rings, porcelain guides, pigtails, tension 
wires, fallers, etc. 

The same false economy that has been the lure of the high 
speed fetich, while considering only the capacity of the machinery 
and the humans operating it, has been wasting gray matter in 
an effort to save at the spigot while wasting at the bunghole. 
Wire and porcelain work have all too frequently been neglected 
as a result either of lax inspection and supervision, or a desire 
to save the costs of replenishing. 

The result of the too long use of cut guiders, flyers, rings, 
pigtails, etc., has been the actual cause of a great deal more 
damaged silk than should ever have been permitted to enter 
the looms. 

The continued use of these accessory parts when cut pro- 
duces hairy silk, cut ends that furl up making long and trouble- 
some nibs, and causes much good silk to be classed as below the 
grade represented. 

A powerful magnifying glass in the hands of a competent 
and trustworthy employee making regular examinations of these 
machine parts, will prevent silk being injured in this way. 

A card index system that will correctly record the condition 
of these supplies should be part of the office work of every 
throwing plant. 

If throwsters were compelled to show reliable records of 
efficient upkeep there would be fewer causes for complaints of 
silks coming from dyers injured in the process of dyeing. 

An inspector of throwing plants might be able to reduce the 
claims against dyers for silks alleged to have been rotted or burnt 
in dyeing. 

We would suggest that manufacturers from time to time 
send dyed samples of silks to the throwsters by whom they 
were thrown, with the request that the same be tested for ac- 
curacy of twist, number of corkscrews, nibs, split ends, hairi- 



110 The Silk Association of America 

ness, etc., to enable better checking up on the quahty o£ throw- 
ing done. 

With some notable exceptions, the testings made by throw- 
sters are too superficial. They should be more thorough and 
exhaustive. It is a sad commentary on the industry that the 
great majority do not possess testing apparatuses. Possibly 
there still exists the misplaced fear that silks properly reported 
on might result in loss of patronage. 

If testing apparatuses are a benefit to the most scientifically 
managed of our throwing organizations, they would certainly 
add materially to the efficiency of those who do not own any. 

EDUCATION OF LABOR. 

We build the best throwing machinery in the world. We 
give it good housing in substantially constructed factory plants, 
and in these two important essentials to good manufacturing pro- 
cedure we have attained commendable proficiency and efficiency. 

However, nothing like the same thought or consideration 
that is given to these matters has been devoted to the education 
and skilful training of labor. 

We strongly recommend, therefore, the giving of more 
time and thought to the ever present problem of higher labor 
efficiency. And to this end we would suggest that this matter 
be undertaken by individual firms or a collection of manufac- 
turing concerns, or by both. The existing scarcity of labor 
makes imperative some educational undertaking in communi- 
ties where silk mills are located, and in neighboring towns. It 
should be done with the view to educating parents and children 
to a better understanding of the real nature of the work re- 
quired in a silk mill. The higher education of mill employees 
will also be effected by including them in the educational course. 

Such a course should consist of a series of informative talks 
on sericulture, silk manufacturing and the marketing and dis- 
tribution of the finished product. The talks should be illustrated 
by moving pictures or stereopticon views of all departments of 
mill work with many of the operations shown in detail. 

Throwing mill hands, though obtaining a better knowledge 
of sericulture, would gain a higher appreciation of the precious 
value and delicate nature of the fiber they are daily handling. 
The soft silk departments would also learn this and the re- 
lation of the throwing operations to their own work. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays m 

Conducted in the public schools of a community such illus- 
trated talks would be a source of great interest to school chil- 
dren and their parents. They should be accompanied with statis- 
tics of the amount of capital invested in the silk industry, the 
world's production of raw material, the amount of money rep- 
resented by the finished product, and the wages paid in the 
different departments of the mills. 

Since this thought came to us some time ago, and we had 
suggested it to several parties whom we believed might be 
sufficiently interested to undertake such work, we learn that 
one of our representative throwing firms has but recently given 
illustrated talks to the schools in the towns where its mills 
are located. 

Another large silk manufacturing organization has for some 
time had established in one of its plants a school for the edu- 
cation of young people in manufacturing silk, utilizing the same 
as a training school for its future employees. 

THROWN SILKS. 

While we could add suggestions for the improvement of 
the thrown silk business, which of late years has grown to large 
proportions, we desire to make one suggestion that we deem 
most important. 

We recommend that there be given stricter attention to 
product and methods by some of the concerns in this branch of 
the trade, if they deem worth while the patronage of the large 
consumers of thrown silks in the knitting and cotton and silk 
mixed goods industries. 

Certain of these large buyers have become so well in- 
formed on the subject of thrown silks that they already consider 
it to be a matter of self-preservation to operate their own 
throwing plants. The loss of this large and growing trade 
should be carefully safeguarded against now. 

FEDERATION OF INTERESTS. 

For the purpose of effecting necessary reforms and cor- 
recting existing abuses we suggest an effort to bring the Silk 
Association and kindred organizations of America, Europe and 
Japan together in a strong international organization. 

With such a federation of interests there could be established 
rules and regulations that would be backed by an authority so 
effective in its government that many desirable changes must 
result. 



ABSTRACTS 

CLASSIFICATION OF RAW SILK. 
ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 30. 

Some surer wa}- of grading silks must be found. 

How many silk manufacturers have such critical knowledge 
of raw silk and its attributes as to enable them intelligently to 
select that which is best for their uses? How many raw silk 
salesmen are in a position to advise their customers correctly on 
the subject? How many raw silk importers know enough of 
the technique of manufacture to guide their cHents aright in their 
purchase, and can these importers ever give really positive as- 
surances as to the working qualities of the silk passing through 
their hands? 

One of the greatest cares upon the manufacturer is the pro- 
viding of the most suitable silks for his various goods, silks that 
will neither be too good nor too poor for the purposes required, 
that will weave well at his customary loom speeds (with a mini- 
mum of imperfections), and enable him to produce the maximum 
value in finished merchandise at the least cost. 

Finding themselves hopelessly in the dark as to the quali- 
ties, many are thus led to buy on price only, thus offering a 
constant temptation to the salesman to overstate the gradings of 
the silks offered. 

Let any one ask a raw silk man to put on paper a description 
of the relative attributes and characteristics of the various market 
gradings of raw silk, so that a buyer could understand the dif- 
ferences, and the attempt will probably result in a sorry failure. 

The fact is that the purchaser should be able to buy for his 
needs with full security as to what he will get. In the cotton 
and wool industries, standard gradings have been evolved, so that 
in buying a recognized grade the buyer has a fair assurance as 
to what he will get. 

In silks there is no fixed standard and the basis is a shifting 
one. The merit of the cocoons will vary from season to season, 
and, as silks may be carried over from one season to another, 
we here find a serious drawback in that silks of the same quality 
are constantly on the market under different gradings. 

Again, the merit of the product of different reeling estab- 
lishments is apt to change, sometimes improving, sometimes 



114 The Silk Association of America 

retrograding, but these differences are not immediately recog- 
nized in the market, and so the gradings continue the same for 
some time after the silk has changed in merit. 

When silk is scarce, or when prices are rising fast, there 
is a great temptation to reelers, and to dealers, to overclassify 
their silk, and this temptation seems to be frequently yielded to, 
as there is now no way of proving that they are committing a 
fraud. 

The requirements of most manufacturers fall into about five 
general gradings. Two grades might represent their needs for 
organzine stock, one a quality as low as would be any way work- 
able, provided for those whose ideas of manufacturing demanded 
low-priced stock ; the other, a high-class silk that would stand 
fast weaving speeds, and give large production coupled with good 
quality. Then there would be two grades of tram stock to corre- 
spond. Lastly, a very high grade of silk for single weaving. 

Many dealers put forward their private chops as a guarantee 
of the quality of the silk so ticketed, but, except in occasional- 
instances, these in the long run prove to be no more reliable 
than the market chops. 

The principal characteristics of raw silk which are of im- 
portance to the manufacturer are strength, elasticity, regularity 
of size, yardage per pound, boil-off, luster, color, cleanness, char- 
acter of reeling (as for freedom from double ends, well-made 
skeins with good crossings, etc.), coherence of filaments, touch 
and scroop, and circumference and weight of skeins. 

The first five of these points are already regularly reported 
on by conditioning houses ; color and luster might be determined 
by the use of instruments of the polariscope character, such as 
are employed in the sugar trade ; the reports on cleanness could 
state the number of nibs, slugs, loops, etc., per 1,000 yards or 
metres ; circumference and weight of skeins are easily shown, 
and coherence of filaments and touch or hand of the silk might 
be observed and described with fair accuracy. 

Having thus the means of accurately stating the different 
qualities possessed by a silk, the important problem of proper 
classification must be worked out. 

A solid basis for this might be arrived at by first ascertain- 
ing the relative merit, in all important respects, of silks accepted 
as belonging to each of the present standard grades, and then 
defining limits for each grade ; for the aim must be to properly 



Raw Silk Prize Essays us 

grade the silk as it exists and not to expect the silk to conform 
to arbitrary standards. 

The supervising of this work should be entrusted to a com- 
mittee composed only of those thoroughly qualified for the task, 
and, preferably, representing both raw silk merchants, throw- 
sters and manufacturers. 

After deciding on the kinds, grades and sizes which would 
need to be investigated, the committees would select a series of 
representative marks or chops for each classification, which are 
recognized and accepted as properly belonging to those classifi- 
cations. 

Arrangements would then be made for the procuring of 
enough samples of these different selections for testing, and the 
conditioning house would make exhaustive tests of them on the 
lines already indicated. 

These tests should be continued, season after season, for as 
many years as would appear to be required to give conclusive 
results. 

With the completion of the tests, there would then be in 
hand a comprehensive body of information as to the actual char- 
acteristics of the silks being put on the market, year by year, 
under the different classifications. 

Whatever the cost might be, it would be many times com- 
pensated for in the safety that would attend transactions in this 
expensive material, and in the precision with which the silk 
could be thrown, dyed and manufactured. 

There would, of course, be strong objections made by many 
interests to such proposals. 

Criticisms must be expected, but they should not be allowed 
to prevent the inauguration of an earnest and persistent effort 
to place this vital matter of raw silk classification upon a firm, 
enduring and scientific basis. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 5. 

Fixed and officially recognized classification of raw silk is, 
beyond doubt, the most pressing need of the silk trade of the 
United States. A comparison of the classification of Japan 
with New York would be decidedly unfavorable to the latter, 
there being no recognized standard in New York. A No. 1 
silk in Yokohama, when it reaches New York, becomes a best 
one or an extra, according to the fancy of the seller. 



^^^> The Silk Association of America 

In consequence of such varying classification quotations do 
not mean much ; the buyer's main rehance is upon the importer. 
The latter cannot always tell what class of silk the buyer needs 
for his goods. He fills the order to the best of his judgment. 
While the delivery will be up to grade ordered, the nature of the 
silk may not be such as the manufacturer needs for his goods. 

One way to establish grades would be to fix a standard from 
the best extras down to the lowest grade. The highest type of 
silk should possess cleanliness, strength, elasticity, evenness, 
tenacity in the highest degree — say 100 in each. Another silk 
having 100 in cleanliness, 90 in strength and 80 in elasticity 
would necessarily fall in grade, but for some purposes would fill 
the bill. 

What is needed in the interest of buyer and seller is a 
Bureau of Standard Samples. In Japan silks, for instance, let 
the importers and manufacturers guarantee a small fund for the 
purchase of enough samples of each grade of silk which comes 
to this market to keep a full set of samples, stamped, in some 
place to be selected, duplicates to be charged for at a liberal 
price. The samples kept in such bureau to be recognized as the 
official grades. Have the reelers keep a duplicate set. These 
could be numbered or otherwise, distinguished. In case of any 
controversy arising between buyer and seller as to quality, ref- 
erence to be made to official samples. None but bureau samples 
to be recognized. 

A manufacturer wishing to provide himself with the class 
of silk required for an approaching season could go to the 
bureau, pay his fee and select his quality, and then go to his 
friends among the importers and place his order, feeling satis- 
fied that his order Avould receive faithful attention. 
ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 28. 

There is such general confusion over the classification of 
Japan silks resulting in considerable misunderstanding and un- 
pleasantness between buyers and sellers that a standardization 
is highly desirable. The writer is of the opinion that a standard 
can be established. 

The physical qualities of Japan silk can be determined accu- 
rately by mechanical methods familiar to all of us, but just what 
each of these must be for the various grades and the variation 
permissible has never been officially determined. 

Why not have an official international conference made up 



Raw Silk Prize Essays i'^ 

of experts from every branch of the silk industry, reelers, in- 
spectors, dealers, throwsters, dyers and manufacturers of the 
various kinds of goods in which raw silk is used? Most Yoko- 
hama inspectors at the beginning of each new season establish 
for their own guidance standards of nature of new crop silks. 
Having a permanent standard of physical qualities, i. c, size, 
variation, tenacity, elasticity and cleanhness, that of nature, color, 
luster, touch, etc., could be altered in accordance with each new 
season's product. Sample skeins representing the new stand- 
ards could be sent each season from the country of origin to 
each of the consuming centers, silk or other similar associations 
to be the custodians. In America the Silk Association would 
of course be the one to have the standards on file. 

RAW SILK DEFECTS. 
ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY NO. 38. 

The most common defects found in raw silk are fine ends, 
slugs or lumps, double ends and long knots, which are no doubt 
caused by careless filature reeling. While the stock is going 
through the different preparatory departments to be made into 
warps, doubles can be largely kept out and long knots cut ofi", 
but fine ends and lumps are bound to run through, and when 
the warp is placed in the loom, instead of producing 75% to 80%, 
we get 40% to 50%. The slugs will not pass through heddle eye 
or reed, and fine ends will break when strain of harness shed is 
put on them, causing imperfections in product, such as floats, 
smashes and broken ends. Filature reelers should exercise great 
care to overcome these two imperfections, and also mark on chop 
ticket when they know stock is free from them. Silk winding 
badly does not necessarily mean that the stock is going to run 
badly all through the process of manufacture as it may wind 
badly from hard gums, double ends broken or laid on ends in 
skeins. If the stock winds badly some of the spools will be bad, 
causing the warper trouble and the warp produced is not as good 
as the one with first-class winding. Nevertheless, this warp will 
produce more and better work in the loom than one filled with 
fine ends and slugs and made absolutely perfect. These remarks 
apply to raw silk used for manufacturing cloth in the gray, but 
they work out just the same in thrown silk — that is, the ultimate 
result is the same. 



118 The Silk Association of America 

The throwster does not care if the stock is filled with un- 
even ends and slugs, providing it winds and spins well, but after 
the stock has been degummed by the dyer the slugs are much 
larger and the fine ends very weak, breaking and pushing back, 
causing, as every one familiar with bad organzine knows, lost 
production and damaged cloth. 

The writer has found in his experience that silk will vary 
in quality although it is the same chop. For instance, we receive 
ten bales of a certain chop and from one or two bales we may 
get a greater percentage of inferior stock than from the rest, 
which naturally leads us to believe that as silk was put up by 
the same company the bad work is caused by careless or inex- 
perienced operatives. 

The best grades of Italians are entirely free from slugs and 
fine ends ; in fact, the best organ stock on the market. Some 
Japans are very good, but as a rule there are more fine and 
coarse ends found in them than in Italian. 

The mill would turn out more and better work at a less 
cost if we could always get first-class warp stock, and I beheve 
that any filature reeler vi^ho would make a specialty of putting 
up a grade of stock free from the above mentioned imperfections 
should have no trouble in selling in this country all he could 
produce, especially a stock made purposely for raw weaving, as 
this manner of manufacturing cloth is getting more popular every 
day. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 28. 

The material improvement of the American Standard skein 
suggested some years ago by the Silk Association and now in 
general use, over the old one, is well recognized. This uni- 
formity of skeins has been of material benefit to the throwing 
end of the silk industry. Why not have also skeins of uniform 
length? In view of the fact that Japan silks are all rereeled — 
that is to say, reeled from the small reels on which the thread 
is wound as it is spun from the several cocoons, on to the larger 
ones to form the standard skein — it would be practicable, the 
writer believes, to reel a fairly exact number of yards. The 
present skein of Japan silk measures about 45,000 yards. Is 
it not equally feasible to reel skeins of 50,000 yards in length. 
The weight of such skeins of a 14.00 denier silk would be slightly 
over 40 drams or 2^2 ounces. 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 119 

The advantage of reeling skeins of a uniform length is that 
the reelers could assort these, packing those of an approximately 
equal weight together. This would in no measure help towards 
getting more even parcels of silk. The present method of pack- 
ing the skeins into books and the latter into bales would not 
thereby be interfered with. Of course, the size of the silk would 
still have to be determined by the present methods. 

JAPAN RAW SILK. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 5. 

Some Japan silks appear to have been reeled in water that 
was not right. The silk when soaked becomes sticky, causing 
bad winding. The silks that have this fault are very white, irre- 
spective of the district from which they come. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 42. 

Please try and get them to put on four laces in a skein 
instead of two. I know that will help a great deal ; it keeps the 
silk threads in their places more, and the winder will not make 
so many rings. 

I also find hard gums in the skeins, not running through 
the skeins, but across the skeins. They should see that the silk 
is shaken well and dried before packing. To prove what I say, 
you will always find hard gum on the inside of the skeins. That's 
where it lies on the arm of the reel. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No, 26. 

In order to properly understand some of the defects of 
Japan silk, it is advisable to enumerate briefly what constitutes 
a good raw silk. The chief qualities that a good silk must possess 
are given below in their respective order of importance to Ameri- 
can manufacturers : 

Evenness. Absence of fine and coarse ends. 

Regularity. A smooth round thread well twisted and free 
from spiral sections and loops. 

Tenacity, Elasticity. Strength and elasticity sufficient to 
withstand the many processes from winding to weaving. 

Cleanliness. A thread free of nibs, duvet, knots, etc. 

Color. Good even white color. 

Brilliancy. High luster. 



130 The Silk Association of America 

The chief defect of Japan raw silk is the unevenness of the 
thread, running very fine in places and very coarse in others. 
This causes almost endless trouble throughout the various pro- 
cesses of silk manufacturing, from winding to weaving. 

In the unwinding of the raw skeins the fine ends, being of 
course weak, break down, stopping the winders. The ends must 
be recovered by the winder, and the fine part, which may run for 
many yards, removed, resulting in much waste. If this fine end 
does not break in this process it most likely will do so during 
the spinning or doubling operation, which, in the case of organ- 
zine, means "singles." The single, as soon as discovered, must 
be eliminated, also at a material loss of silk and time. A broken 
fine end in tram must likewise be rejoined after removal of the 
abnormal thread. 

If perchance the fine end should not break during the throw- 
ing process, it may do so in the winding of the dyed silk, or 
then, in the case of organ, on the warper or in the loomi, necessi- 
tating here also its elimination and consequent loss of costly silk. 
In the woven fabric the coarse and fine ends cause "streakiness" 
and imperfections, lessening its value considerably if there is 
unusual unevenness. 

With Japan silk some difficulty is also experienced by reason 
of double, and sometimes more, ends of raw being reeled together 
for a certain length. This is a source of annoyance in the wind- 
ing, and that part of the abnormal thread must be removed. 

A spiral or corkscrewy thread also causes trouble, as the 
tighter of the two sections ultimately breaks. This defect when 
seen by the winder is removed by cutting out that part of the 
thread. If not eliminated during the degumming process, pre- 
paratory to dyeing, then the single cocoon filament will ravel. 
If there is a considerable number of these breaks an irregular 
dyed thread is the result. 

The small loops, which are generally single cocoon filaments 
not fully straightened out, are quite frequently found in Japan 
silks, due, it is claimed, to the peculiarity of most cocoons used 
by Japanese filatures. While these are not a source of trouble 
in throwing, they generally break open when silk is boiled off, 
giving the dyed thread a hairy or fuzzy appearance, a defect 
very much in evidence on the surface of the woven fabric. 

The strength or tenacity, as well as elasticity of the silk 
thread has a very important bearing on the working quality in 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 121 

the several processes from winding to weaving. The greater 
the tenacity and elasticity, the less the number of breaks with 
a consequent saving of time of operatives and waste. 

A clean silk, that is, one fairly free from nibs, knots, cocoon 
waste, etc., while not such an important factor with American 
manufacturers, gives a much more satisfactory fabric. A raw 
silk having a large number of the imperfections stated will, in 
the case of organzine, require more careful attention in the 
warping as the dirt must be picked or it will be caught in the 
reed, causing the thread to break. The two organ ends must be 
found and again united by the weaver, all at an expense of time 
and some waste. If the dirt should pass through the reed, it is 
visible in the cloth and must be picked out. A dirty tram Hke- 
wise materially increases the work of the picker, and if the nibs 
are large in size and considerable in number, a poor piece of 
silk is the result. 

REMEDIES. 

The chief defect of the product of Japan Filatures is the 
unevenness of the thread, almost entirely a maj:ter of reeling. 
The selection of the same size cocoons will lessen the irregularity, 
but upon the ability of the reeler depends chiefly the spinning 
of an even thread. A proof of this will readily be found in the 
greater evenness of the product of Italian and other European 
Filatures where the reelers are admittedly more experienced 
than the operatives of most Japanese establishments. Also the 
girls are more carefully supervised than is the case in Japan. 

While material progress has already been made in Japan 
along these lines, it is the writer's opinion that it is in this direc- 
tion particularly that the Japanese must bend their efforts in 
improving the quality of their product. They must educate their 
reelers to be particularly careful in always keeping up the full 
number of cocoon ends, adding a. fresh filament as soon as the 
finer inner coating of a cocoon is reached, and then by greater 
and continuous supervision see that it is done. Also a reeler 
should not be compelled or permitted to reel a greater number 
of threads than she can properly handle, a beginner starting with, 
say, two threads, this number to be increased gradually as she 
becomes more experienced. While the expense of increased 
supervision and somewhat slower production will add to the cost 



123 The Silk Association of America 

of reeling, it is doubtful whether it will exceed the greater value 
obtainable for a higher quality of silk thereby produced. 

The extension of the system generally prevalent in Italian 
Filatures, that of having separate operatives (called baigneuse 
and batteuse) prepare the cocoons for the reeler, that is boiling 
and removing the outer coating (frison) and finding the good 
end, and which has been started in a number of Filatures in the 
Oshu districts, is desirable. By this means it is possible to obtain 
a more uniform boiling of the cocoons and permits the reeler 
to devote her undivided attention to the delicate as well as diffi- 
cult operation of keeping up the various ends being spun. It 
goes without saying that the result is a more even, cleaner and 
therefore more valuable thread. 

Loops, as stated, are generally single cocoon filaments not 
properly stretched out, the sericin or gum not having been suf- 
ficiently loosened. Certain species of cocoons used in Japan, 
those having what might be termed the shape of a peanut, i. e., 
beipg smaller in the center than on both ends, are known to 
cause tiny circles or loops on the thread. The layer of silk in 
the center part of the cocoon, being more closely packed than 
that of either ends, requires greater boiling. This, however, can 
not be done without injury to the other part of the cocoons, and 
no more gum is left there than the filament has a tendency to 
stick. If the cocoon has insufficient weight to straighten the 
strand of silk being unwound from it, loops are formed. The 
writer understands that the species of cocoons of this shape are 
gradually being superseded by the oval cocoon similar to those 
used in Europe, and this defect therefore will in time be elimi- 
nated. 

The tenacity and elasticity of the silk thread is generally 
weakened by overboiling of the cocoon, and if the system of 
separate preparation already referred to be generally adopted, 
and also an even and regular thread produced, there will be little 
cause for complaint in this Respect. Silk as it becomes older 
loses strength and elasticity, becoming what is termed brittle, 
but if carefully stored in a cool and sufficiently humid place, it 
can be kept for a long time without affecting its quality. 

LOUSINESS. 

A few words about f uzziness and lousiness may not be 
amiss here, as this is a source of considerable trouble to manu- 



Raw Silk Prize Essays 123 

facturers, second to unevenness only. The latter is a defect 
peculiar to silk, no matter of what origin. 

It is hoped that some time in the not distant future a com- 
mercially practical method will be devised for ascertaining the 
extent of boiling off suitable for every different lot of raw silk. 
The dyers can hardly be expected to do this under present condi- 
tions, as the lots sent them are often very small. The condi- 
tioning house, in the writer's opinion, is the proper place for the 
making of such tests. A way in which this could be done would 
be for the manufacturer to send a sample of thrown silk to the 
conditioning house and from the results ascertained instruct the 
dyer how to treat the particular parcel. The one test would 
serve for an entire run of silk. Just what tests are necessary 
can readily be determined, no doubt, at a conference of manu- 
facturers and dyers, under the auspices of the Silk Association, 
and where could be present representatives of raw and thrown 
silk dealers, as well as the expert of the U. S. Conditioning and 
Testing Co. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 5. 

Of the most common defects found in raw silk, one of the 
greatest is caused by reeling from diseased cocoons. In the 
process of reeling these cocoons discharge, at intervals, small 
portions of the diseased part, producing on the skein what is 
known in the trade as "lousiness," or small, fluffy spots. These 
fluffy spots can be noticed when the dyed skein is held verti- 
cally and the examiner looks down it. It shows a fuzziness on 
the thread, and has a mottled appearance, seeming to be dotted 
with small bits of fibrous cotton. These mottled spots do not 
absorb the dyestuff the same as the sound thread, but adhere 
to it, and are noticeable in the woven goods. 

Much of this "lousiness" can be removed from the dyed silk 
if it is redrawn ov-er a woolen cloth. 

CHINA RAW SILK. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 25. 

The strength and elasticity of China raw silk are two very 
important elements that the manufacturer of sewing silk thread 
must consider.- There are, however, three important things that 
prevent a larger consumption — namely, slugs, double and single 



134 The Silk Association of America 

threads. The cost of sorting 100 pounds into fine, medium, 
coarse and dirty, and picking out slugs and nibs, was $3.00. 
There is another cost in winding and extra waste, made for the 
reason that every time a large slug is broken out it means two 
ends and one more breakdown in winding, making in America 
cost per pound to wind 12 cents. 

I have spent forty years of my Hfe in two throwing depart- 
ments and have gone repeatedly to my present employer and 
showed him the sluggy condition of Crack China Chops. Here 
are a few suggestions : 

First. Equip the reels with a guide similar to No. 339, as 
shown. A guide could be fashioned to suit every style of reel 
in use. Such a guide would catch all the nibs or slugs, as we 
call such dirt, and the result would be a much cleaner, evener 
thread. 

The increased cost of reeling wdth their labor would not 
be over ^ of a cent per pound. We would all be glad to pay 
the increased cost. Our winding machines would be speeded up. 
Girls would wind more pounds per day and make less waste. 
We could also reduce the cost of inspecting, or, as some call it, 
sorting. 

Second. Prevent small bands of uneven thread and little 
bunches of waste from being concealed in skeins, and that will 
remove another source of annoyance and expense to every manu- 
facturer. The man in charge of reel mill could easily correct 
the evil by co-operating with reel tenders. 

Third. If every thread was carefully tied and leave ^ inch 
only from knot, there would be much less trouble in winding. 
Many times they only twist threads like a weaver does. That 
means a sure breakdown after silk is soaked and put on the 
swift to wind. 

Fourth. Gum marks in skeins should be removed before 
silk is made up into books. Much money is being spent for 
softening oils in our mills, to remove bad spots in skeins and 
make it possible to wind silk with less expense and waste. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 5. 

Hard gums in raw is another great fault, especially in Can- 
ton and Chinas, causing much trouble to the throwster, extra 
waste, loss of production and increased cost. They have prob- 



Raw Silk. Prize Essays 125 

ably been the cause of more complaints from the throwster than 
any other raw silk fault. They show up the faults of the silk 
much more than if it were free-winding. In winding silk with 
hard gums fine ends are very much more apt to break than when 
the silk is free from this defect. Some silks have stretches of 
two yards to perhaps fifty yards, where apparently one or more 
cocoons have broken in the reeling, while the thread continues 
running, leaving it so fine that it invariably breaks. 

LACING, ETC. 
ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 2. 

(Throwster, Twenty-eight Years' Experience.) 
The Canton lacing I find is of wrong material, because it 
causes waste and loss of time. For instance, the lacing is twisted 
too hard, which causes it to snarl up on ends and catch in the 
fiber, many times tangling in the skeins, and in such cases it is 
impossible to remove lacing without breaking fiber in the skeins. 
Would recommend the use of soft material with less twist, similar 
to Japan lacing, which is slight twist and does not catch in the 
fiber when preparing for opening and soaking. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 5. 

As to changes in the making of skeins, there would be some 
advantage to the throwster if colored lacing were used on the 
skein instead of white. The cotton would be more easily noticed, 
and could more readily be picked from his waste, increasing the 
value of the waste. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 2. 

In running through the average Canton chop we find in- 
numerable double ends, which, of course, make imperfections in 
the cloth. I find that the Canton silk would be considerably 
benefited if the silk merchants insisted upon having Canton Silk 
reeled with the cross in the skein, similar to the Japan silk 
skeins, and also insist upon uniform size skeins. 

If the Canton silk books were half the size and weight or 
near the weight of Japan books, it would help the silk consid- 
erable. I would advise for the good of the Canton fiber that 
the books be made the same size as Japan books, and the bales 
square, the same as Japan bales. 



126 The Silk Association of America 

Canton filature makes nice lustrous cloth, and is very worthy 
of due attention by all concerned in bringing about better con- 
ditions in the reeling in China. If all these points were watched 
in preparing Canton chops, Canton would take a step forward 
and extend to American manufacturers using this silk for warps, 
with fair results in producing beautiful, lustrous cloth, especially 
in satins of the various weaves. 

STANDARD CONDITIONS FOR THE STORAGE OF 
RAW SILK. 

ABSTRACT FROM ESSAY No. 30. 

As a separate suggestion concerning raw silk, I think that 
The Silk Association of America should ascertain, for the benefit 
of the trade, what are the most approved conditions of moisture 
and temperature for the storage of raw silk, and, as the tem- 
perature is more difficult to control than the moisture, what is the 
most suitable humidity at varying degrees of temperature. 

This is a matter of much importance, particularly in the 
storage of silk intended for single weaving, for, if kept under 
too dry conditions, the loss of moisture robs the silk of much of 
its elasticity, and renders it unfit for such a purpose. Even if 
brought back to a normally moist condition, it never quite regains 
its original goodness. 

The information so afforded could be placed, also, before 
the managers of the warehouses where silk is stored, so that they 
might be induced to provide the facilities for always keeping the 
rooms where silk was stored in a suitably moist condition. 



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